119-hr1294

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1294 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 1294

To pilot the use of image technician positions in the U.S. Customs and 
 Border Protection Office of Field Operations.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 February 13, 2025

Mr. Ciscomani (for himself and Mr. Davis of North Carolina) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland 
 Security

_______________________________________________________________________

 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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