[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 578 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 578
To pilot the use of image technician positions in the U.S. Customs and
Border Protection Office of Field Operations.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 13, 2025
Mr. Lankford (for himself, Mr. Kelly, and Mr. Cornyn) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To pilot the use of image technician positions in the U.S. Customs and
Border Protection Office of Field Operations.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES.
This Act may be cited as the ``Border Enforcement, Security, and
Trade Facilitation Act of 2025'' or the ``BEST Facilitation Act''.
SEC. 2. OFFICE OF FIELD OPERATIONS IMAGE TECHNICIAN PILOT PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Section 411(g) of the Homeland Security Act of
2002 (6 U.S.C. 211(g)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(6) Image technician pilot program.--
``(A) Image technician 1.--
``(i) In general.--There shall be in the
Office of Field Operations, Image Technician 1
positions, which shall be filled in accordance
with the provisions under chapter 33 (relating
to appointments in the competitive service) and
chapters 51 and 53 (relating to classification
and rates of pay) of title 5, United States
Code.
``(ii) Conditions.--Image Technician 1
positions--
``(I) may be filled by existing
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
employees;
``(II) are not law enforcement
officer positions;
``(III) may not be filled by
independent contractors; and
``(IV) shall be assigned to a
regional command center established
under subparagraph (F).
``(iii) Duties.--The duties of an Image
Technician 1 shall include--
``(I) reviewing non-intrusive
inspection images of conveyances and
containers entering or exiting the
United States through a land, sea, or
air port of entry or international rail
crossing;
``(II) assessing whether images of
conveyances and containers appear to
contain anomalies indicating the
potential presence of contraband,
persons unlawfully seeking to enter or
exit the United States, or illicitly
concealed merchandise, including
illicit drugs and terrorist weapons;
``(III) recommending entry release
or exit release for any conveyances and
containers whenever the images of such
items do not include noticeable
anomalies indicating the potential
presence of contraband, persons seeking
to unlawfully enter or exit the United
States, or illicitly concealed
merchandise, including illicit drugs or
terrorist weapons, to the U.S. Customs
and Border Protection Officer
responsible for inspecting such
conveyance or container; and
``(IV) recommending further
inspection of any conveyances and
containers whenever the Image
Technician reasonably believes that an
image of any such item contains
anomalies indicating the potential
presence of contraband, persons seeking
to unlawfully enter or exit the United
States, or illicitly concealed
merchandise, such as illicit drugs or
terrorist weapons, to the U.S. Customs
and Border Protection officer who is
responsible for inspecting such
conveyance or container.
``(B) Image technician 2.--
``(i) In general.--There shall be in the
Office of Field Operations, Image Technician 2
positions, which shall be filled in accordance
with the provisions under chapter 33 (relating
to appointments in the competitive service) and
chapters 51 and 53 (relating to classification
and rates of pay) of title 5, United States
Code.
``(ii) Conditions.--Image Technician 2
positions--
``(I) may be filled by existing
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
employees;
``(II) are not law enforcement
officer positions;
``(III) may not be filled by
independent contractors; and
``(IV) shall be assigned to a
regional command center established
under subparagraph (F).
``(iii) Duties.--The duties of an Image
Technician 2 shall include--
``(I) carrying out all of the
duties described in subclauses (I)
through (IV) of subparagraph (A)(ii);
``(II) receiving intelligence from
the National Targeting Center regarding
tactics, techniques, and procedures
being used at ports of entry and in the
border environment by malign actors to
facilitate the unlawful entry or exit
of contraband, persons, or illicitly
concealed merchandise, such as illicit
drugs or terrorist weapons; and
``(III) reporting new information
to the National Targeting Center
regarding tactics, techniques, and
procedures being used at ports of entry
and in the border environment by malign
actors to facilitate the unlawful entry
or exit of contraband, persons, or
concealed merchandise, such as illicit
drugs or terrorist weapons.
``(C) Supervisory u.s. customs and border
protection officers.--
``(i) Supervision.--All image technicians
shall be supervised by a Supervisory U.S.
Customs and Border Protection Officer.
``(ii) Discretion and decision-making
authority.--The appropriate Supervisory U.S.
Customs and Border Protection Officer, while
working with image technicians, shall retain
the discretion and final decision-making
authority--
``(I) to release conveyances or
cargo for entry; or
``(II) to refer such conveyance or
cargo for further inspection.
``(iii) Training.--A Supervisory U.S.
Customs and Border Protection Officer who
supervises image technicians shall receive
additional training in accordance with
subparagraph (D).
``(D) Training requirements.--All image technicians
shall receive annual training and additional ad hoc
training, to the extent necessary based on current
trends, regarding--
``(i) respecting privacy, civil rights, and
civil liberties, including the protections
against unreasonable searches and seizures
afforded by the First and Fourth Amendments to
the Constitution of the United States, as
applicable and as interpreted by the Federal
courts;
``(ii) analyzing images generated by non-
intrusive inspection technologies or any
successor technologies deployed by U.S. Customs
and Border Protection;
``(iii) identifying commodities and
merchandise in images generated by non-
intrusive inspection technologies or any
successor technologies deployed by U.S. Customs
and Border Protection;
``(iv) identifying contraband, persons who
are seeking to unlawfully enter or exit the
United States, or illicitly concealed
merchandise, such as illicit drugs or terrorist
weapons, in images generated by non-intrusive
technologies or any successor technologies
deployed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection;
``(v) tactics, techniques, and procedures
being used at ports of entry and in the border
environment by malign actors to facilitate the
unlawful entry or exit of contraband, persons,
or illicitly concealed merchandise, such as
illicit drugs or terrorist weapons; and
``(vi) any other training that the
Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border
Protection determines to be relevant to the
duties described in subparagraphs (A)(iii) or
(B)(iii).
``(E) Annual assessment.--All image technicians
shall receive annual testing with respect to their--
``(i) accuracy in image analysis;
``(ii) timeliness in image analysis; and
``(iii) ability to ascertain tactics,
techniques, and procedures being used at ports
of entry and in the border environment by
malign actors to facilitate the unlawful entry
or exit of contraband, persons, or illicitly
concealed merchandise, such as illicit drugs or
terrorist weapons.
``(F) Command centers.--As part of the pilot
program established under this paragraph, the Executive
Assistant Commissioner of the Office of Field
Operations shall establish 5 regional command centers
at land, rail, air, and sea ports in which image
technicians shall review non-intrusive inspection
images.
``(G) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this
paragraph may be construed to affect the discretion and
final decision-making authority given to U.S. Customs
and Border Protection Officers to release conveyances
or cargo for entry or exit or to refer such conveyances
or cargo for further inspection.''.
(b) Effective Date.--
(1) Sunset.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall
cease to have effect on the date that is 5 years after the date
of the enactment of this Act.
(2) Transfers authorized.--Upon the termination of the
pilot program established by section 411(g)(6) of the Homeland
Security Act of 2002, as added by subsection (a), individuals
occupying Image Technician 1 or Image Technician 2 positions in
the Office of Field Operations may transfer to comparable
positions within U.S. Customs and Border Protection or the
Department of Homeland Security.
SEC. 3. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Semiannual Reports.--Not later than 180 days after the hiring
of the first positions described in section 411(g)(6) of the Homeland
Security Act of 2002, as added by section 2, and every 180 days
thereafter, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in
consultation with the Executive Assistant Commissioner of the Office of
Field Operations, shall submit a report to the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on
Homeland Security of the House of Representatives that identifies--
(1) the number of Image Technician 1 and Image Technician 2
positions filled during the reporting period;
(2) the number of Image Technician 1 and Image Technician 2
positions currently employed by the Office of Field Operations,
disaggregated by--
(A) port of entry or field office;
(B) image technician position; and
(C) command center, as applicable;
(3) the daily average number of images scanned by each
Image Technician 1 and each Image Technician 2;
(4) training methodologies utilized to train image
technicians;
(5) assessment passage rates of image technicians;
(6) the impact of image technicians on interdiction rates
at ports of entry and international rail crossings at which
image technicians are stationed or from which image technicians
review images, including--
(A) throughput increases or decreases at such ports
of entry and international rail crossings;
(B) increases or decreases in waiting times at such
ports of entry and international rail crossings;
(C) average wait times at such ports of entry and
international rail crossings; and
(D) increases or decreases of seizures of
contraband, persons seeking to unlawfully enter or exit
the United States, or illicitly concealed merchandise,
such as illicit drugs or terrorist weapons, broken down
by type of seizure and port of entry or international
rail crossing;
(7) the impact of image technicians on U.S. Customs and
Border Protection's capability to review non-intrusive
inspection images of conveyances and containers entering or
exiting the United States through a land, sea, or air port of
entry or international rail crossing;
(8) an assessment of the effectiveness with which image
technicians carry out the duties described in subparagraphs
(A)(iii) and (B)(iii) of section 411(g)(6) of the Homeland
Security Act of 2002, as added by section 2(a), compared to any
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers who are assigned
such duties;
(9) the progress made in establishing command centers under
the pilot program established by such section;
(10) any infrastructure or resource needs required to
establish such command centers; and
(11) the ports of entry and international rail crossing, as
applicable, that are supported by such a command center.
(b) Biannual Briefings.--The Executive Assistant Commissioner of
the Office of Field Operations shall provide biannual briefings to the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate
and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives
regarding the information described in the latest report submitted
pursuant to subsection (a).
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