PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) must send Congress a yearly report by December 31, 2021 and every year after. The report must list all unidentified remains found on or near the U.S.–Mexico border during the year and, for each person, give the cause and manner of death if known, the sex, age at death, country of origin if possible, and the location where the remains were found. It must give totals for how many unidentified remains CBP found and, if available, how many were found by other federal, state, local, Tribal, or military authorities or medical examiners. The report must also describe CBP’s work with nongovernmental groups, schools, medical examiners, and law enforcement to map and count migrant deaths, and explain the Missing Migrant Program and how it helps reduce deaths while keeping the border secure. CBP must put the individual and total information from the report on its website within 30 days after sending the report. CBP must also send an annual report about rescue beacons that says how many beacons are in each border patrol sector, where each beacon is, how often each was activated, the kind of distress if known, and recommendations for more beacons after consulting local stakeholders. Within 6 months after CBP’s unidentified-remains report goes to Congress, the Comptroller General (GAO) must report on how CBP collects and records death data, any differences across sectors, how CBP’s data compares to other sources (including county medical examiners and the CDC), how CBP measures its death-mitigation efforts, and how CBP works with other governments, consulates, and organizations to identify people, resolve cases, and share information with NamUs.

Title 6, §224

Domestic Security, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Unidentified remains

(1)Reporting requirement

Not later than 1 year after December 31, 2020, and annually thereafter, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall submit a report to the appropriate committees of Congress regarding all unidentified remains discovered, during the reporting period, on or near the border between the United States and Mexico, including—

(A)for each deceased person—

(i)the cause and manner of death, if known;

(ii)the sex, age (at time of death), and country of origin (if such information is determinable); and

(iii)the location of each unidentified remain;

(B)the total number of deceased people whose unidentified remains were discovered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection during the reporting period;

(C)to the extent such information is available to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the total number of deceased people whose unidentified remains were discovered by Federal, State, local or Tribal law enforcement officers, military personnel, or medical examiners offices;

(D)the efforts of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to engage with nongovernmental organizations, institutions of higher education, medical examiners and coroners, and law enforcement agencies—

(i)to identify and map the locations at which migrant deaths occur; and

(ii)to count the number of deaths that occur at such locations; and

(E)a detailed description of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Missing Migrant Program, including how the program helps mitigate migrant deaths while maintaining border security.

(2)Public disclosure

Not later than 30 days after each report required under paragraph (1) is submitted, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall publish on the website of the agency the information described in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of paragraph (1) during each reporting period.

(b)Rescue beacons

Not later than 1 year after December 31, 2020, and annually thereafter, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall submit a report to the appropriate committees of Congress regarding the use of rescue beacons along the border between the United States and Mexico, including, for the reporting period—

(1)the number of rescue beacons in each border patrol sector;

(2)the specific location of each rescue beacon;

(3)the frequency with which each rescue beacon was activated by a person in distress;

(4)a description of the nature of the distress that resulted in each rescue beacon activation (if such information is determinable); and

(5)an assessment, in consultation with local stakeholders, including elected officials, nongovernmental organizations, and landowners, of necessary additional rescue beacons and recommendations for locations for deployment to reduce migrant deaths.

(c)GAO report

Not later than 6 months after the report required under subsection (a) is submitted to the appropriate committees of Congress, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit a report to the same committees that describes—

(1)how U.S. Customs and Border Protection collects and records border-crossing death data;

(2)the differences (if any) in U.S. Customs and Border Protection border-crossing death data collection methodology across its sectors;

(3)how U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s data and statistical analysis on trends in the numbers, locations, causes, and characteristics of border-crossing deaths compare to other sources of data on these deaths, including border county medical examiners and coroners and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;

(4)how U.S. Customs and Border Protection measures the effectiveness of its programs to mitigate migrant deaths; and

(5)the extent to which U.S. Customs and Border Protection engages Federal, State, local, and Tribal governments, foreign diplomatic and consular posts, and nongovernmental organizations—

(A)to accurately identify deceased individuals;

(B)to resolve cases involving unidentified remains;

(C)to resolve cases involving unidentified persons; and

(D)to share information on missing persons and unidentified remains, specifically with the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was enacted as part of Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act of 2019, and not as part of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 which comprises this chapter.

§224 Other Reporting Requirements

Summary

Title 6, §224

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Citations & Metadata