“A bill to pilot the use of image technician positions in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes an image technician pilot program in the Office of Field Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) by adding new paragraph (6) to section 411(g) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 211(g)). The program creates Image Technician 1 and Image Technician 2 positions, filled through the competitive service under 5 U.S.C. chapters 33, 51, and 53; these non-law enforcement positions may be filled by existing CBP employees, must be assigned to regional command centers, and may not use independent contractors. Image Technician 1 duties include reviewing non-intrusive inspection images of conveyances and containers at ports of entry and international rail crossings, assessing for anomalies indicating contraband, unlawful persons, or illicit merchandise (e.g., drugs or terrorist weapons), and recommending release or further inspection to the responsible CBP officer. Image Technician 2 duties encompass those of Image Technician 1, plus receiving intelligence from the National Targeting Center on malign actors' tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and reporting new TTP information to that center. All image technicians are supervised by Supervisory CBP Officers, who retain final discretion on releasing cargo or referring it for inspection and must receive additional training. Image technicians receive annual and ad hoc training on privacy and civil rights protections (including under the First and Fourth Amendments), image analysis, commodity identification, contraband detection, and malign actors' TTPs. (As background, CBP's Office of Field Operations conducts passenger processing, cargo inspection, and border enforcement at the nation's 328 ports of entry.)
This section requires the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in consultation with the Executive Assistant Commissioner of the Office of Field Operations, to submit semiannual reports to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Homeland Security—beginning not later than 180 days after hiring the first Image Technician 1 and Image Technician 2 positions added by section 2 and every 180 days thereafter—identifying (1) positions filled during the period and currently employed, disaggregated by port of entry or field office, position type, and command center; (2) daily average images scanned per technician; (3) training methodologies and assessment passage rates; (4) impacts on interdiction rates (including throughput, wait times, average wait times, and seizures of contraband, unlawful entrants/exiters, or illicit merchandise by type and location) at ports of entry and international rail crossings; (5) effects on CBP's capability to review non-intrusive inspection images of conveyances and containers; (6) effectiveness of technicians' duties compared to CBP officers; and (7) progress, resource needs, and supported locations for command centers under the pilot program. It further requires the Executive Assistant Commissioner to provide biannual briefings to the same committees on the latest report.