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S578119th Congress

BEST Facilitation Act

Sponsored By: Senator Lankford, James [R-OK]

Introduced

Summary

Image technician pilot program that would add two new non-law-enforcement image reviewer roles inside U.S. Customs and Border Protection to screen non-intrusive inspection images at ports of entry. It would set up five regional command centers, require specialized training and testing, and include a five-year sunset.

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  • CBP employees: Creates two job classes, Image Technician 1 (IT-1) and Image Technician 2 (IT-2), to be filled by existing CBP staff and assigned to regional command centers. IT-1 focuses on image review and recommending release or further inspection; IT-2 also receives and reports intelligence on tactics used by malign actors.
  • Ports, travelers, and trade: Image technicians would review images of conveyances, containers, and crossings and make recommendations to Supervisory CBP Officers, who keep final decision authority. CBP must report every 180 days on effects such as throughput, waiting times, and seizures.
  • Privacy and oversight: Training must cover privacy rights and civil liberties, including First and Fourth Amendment protections, and technicians face annual assessments on accuracy, timeliness, and identifying tactics used at ports of entry.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

Customs image review pilot program

If enacted, the bill would create a five-year pilot at U.S. Customs and Border Protection to centralize image review. It would create two federal jobs, Image Technician 1 and Image Technician 2, that must be filled by CBP employees and not contractors. Image technicians would review non-intrusive inspection images and flag anomalies for CBP Officers, who would keep final release and referral authority. The pilot would set up five regional command centers for land, rail, air, and sea ports. Image technicians and their supervisors would get initial and annual training and yearly tests on privacy and image analysis. CBP would send reports to the Senate and House Homeland Security committees every 180 days, starting within 180 days after the first hires. Those reports must show staffing, images scanned per technician, training pass rates, throughput and wait time effects, and seizures by port and type. The pilot would end five years after enactment, and people in the IT jobs could move to comparable CBP or DHS positions.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Lankford, James [R-OK]

OK • R

Cosponsors

  • Sen. Kelly, Mark [D-AZ]

    AZ • D

    Sponsored 2/13/2025

  • Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX]

    TX • R

    Sponsored 2/13/2025

  • Sen. Warnock, Raphael G. [D-GA]

    GA • D

    Sponsored 3/25/2025

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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