House lawmakers passed a bill Tuesday afternoon that would create a task force within the Department of Homeland Security that would focus solely on finding underground tunnels smugglers use to illegally traffic people, drugs, and other goods from Mexico to the U.S.
The Border Tunnel Task Force Act passed by voice vote the House with bipartisan support, shortly after a floor speech from House Homeland Security Committee member Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La.
If it passes the Senate and gets President Trump’s signature, DHS would create a coalition comprised of U.S. Customs and Border Protection; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and law enforcement from other federal, state, local, and tribal agencies to find tunnels and identify the criminal groups using them. Currently, there is no one agency focused on handling tunnel incidents; smuggling channels are often stumbled upon in the middle of investigations.
“Some of the most dangerous threats to our homeland are coming across our southern border. Drug smugglers are bringing dangerous narcotics, and fueling America’s opioid epidemic,” House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul, a co-sponsor, said on the floor Tuesday afternoon. “Even potential or known suspected terrorists are trying to make their way into America by exploiting our weak border.”
“All these groups are a serious national security concern. They are also very determined and creative, and one of the ways they avoid detection is digging cross-border tunnels,” he added.
DHS personnel have found approximately 200 tunnels at the southwest border since 1990.
“These tunnels are difficult to detect without sophisticated equipment or intelligence that advises law enforcement not only where they are but how they might discover them. Said another way, cartels and criminals are one step ahead of the good guys, our law enforcement,” co-sponsor Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, said during House debate.
Teams would be deployed to unspecified locations in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California — all of which are border states.
[Previous coverage: Canadian man from Guatemala arrested for smuggling people from Canada through train tunnel]
