§475 Transnational Criminal Investigative Units

Summary

The Secretary of Homeland Security, with the agreement of the Secretary of State, must run Transnational Criminal Investigative Units inside Homeland Security Investigations. Each unit is made up of trained foreign law enforcement officers who work with Homeland Security Investigations to investigate and help prosecute crimes that cross borders. Before joining and at times while serving, those officers must pass security checks such as background checks, polygraph tests, urinalysis, or other checks the Secretary decides. No one may join if there is credible information that their unit committed gross human rights violations, consistent with 22 U.S.C. 2378d. Units must be approved by the U.S. chief of mission in the host country, follow State Department rules, and have the Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs agree. The Executive Associate Director of Homeland Security Investigations may pay vetted members a stipend for their unit duties. That official must report to relevant Senate and House committees on how vetting is done and on steps to prevent compromise. For five years starting December 23, 2022, the official must give an annual unclassified briefing (with a classified part if needed) showing the number of vetted members by country, stipend amounts by country, enforcement results like arrests and joint-investigation progress, and whether any vetted members were involved in unlawful activity, including human rights abuses or serious corruption.