H.R.5793

            I 

116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION H. R. 5793 

To ensure operational control of the southwest border, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 6, 2020 
Mr. ROY (for himself and Mr. MCCLINTOCK) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security, and in addi-
tion to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 
To ensure operational control of the southwest border, and 

for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1

tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Border Visibility and 4

Security Act’’. 5

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6

In this Act: 7

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2 

•HR 5793 IH

(1) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis-1

sioner’’ means the Commissioner of U.S. Customs 2

and Border Protection. 3

(2) OPERATIONAL CONTROL.—The term ‘‘oper-4

ational control’’ has the meaning given such term in 5

section 2(b) of the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (8 6

U.S.C. 1701 note; Public Law 109–367). 7

(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 8

the Secretary of Homeland Security. 9

(4) SITUATIONAL AWARENESS.—The term ‘‘sit-10

uational awareness’’ has the meaning given such 11

term in section 1092(a)(7) of the National Defense 12

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 13

114–328). 14

SEC. 3. STRENGTHENING THE REQUIREMENTS FOR BOR-15

DER SECURITY TECHNOLOGY ALONG THE 16

SOUTHERN BORDER. 17

Section 102 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and 18

Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (division C of Pub-19

lic Law 104–208; 8 U.S.C. 1103 note) is amended— 20

(1) in subsection (a)— 21

(A) by inserting ‘‘and border technology’’ 22

before ‘‘in the vicinity of’’; and 23

(B) by striking ‘‘illegal crossings in areas 24

of high illegal entry into the United Sates’’ and 25

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3 

•HR 5793 IH

inserting ‘‘, impede, and detect illegal activity 1

and entry into the United States’’; 2

(2) in subsection (b)— 3

(A) in the heading by striking ‘‘ROAD IM-4

PROVEMENTS’’ and inserting ‘‘NAVIGABLE 5

ROADS’’; and 6

(B) by adding at the end the following new 7

paragraph: 8

‘‘(5) ADDITIONAL NAVIGABLE ROADS ALONG 9

THE SOUTHWEST BORDER.— 10

‘‘(A) NAVIGABLE ROAD DEFINED.—In this 11

subsection, the term ‘navigable road’ means a 12

contiguous, navigable road. 13

‘‘(B) NAVIGABLE ROADS.—In carrying out 14

subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Se-15

curity shall construct a navigable road along 16

not less than 700 miles of the southwest border 17

where most practical and effective to gain oper-18

ational control of the southwest border. 19

‘‘(C) PRIORITY AREAS.—In carrying out 20

this paragraph, the Secretary of Homeland Se-21

curity shall— 22

‘‘(i) identify the 700 miles, or other 23

mileage determined by the Secretary, along 24

the southwest border where a navigable 25

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4 

•HR 5793 IH

road would be most practical and effective 1

in deterring smugglers and aliens attempt-2

ing to gain illegal entry into the United 3

States; and 4

‘‘(ii) not later than December 31, 5

2020, complete construction of a navigable 6

road along the miles identified under 7

clause (i). 8

‘‘(D) CONSULTATION.— 9

‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out 10

this paragraph, the Secretary of Homeland 11

Security shall consult with the Secretary of 12

the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, 13

States, local governments, Indian Tribes, 14

and property owners in the United States 15

to minimize the impact on the environ-16

ment, culture, commerce, and quality of 17

life for the communities and residents lo-18

cated near the sites at which navigable 19

roads are to be constructed. 20

‘‘(ii) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing 21

in this subparagraph may be construed 22

to— 23

‘‘(I) create or negate any right of 24

action for a State, local government, 25

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5 

•HR 5793 IH

Indian Tribe, or other person or enti-1

ty affected by this subsection; or 2

‘‘(II) affect the eminent domain 3

laws of the United States or of any 4

State.’’; 5

(3) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting ‘‘and, pur-6

suant to subsection (d), the installation, operation, 7

and maintenance of technology,’’ after ‘‘barriers and 8

roads’’; and 9

(4) by adding at the end the following new sub-10

sections: 11

‘‘(e) INSTALLATION, OPERATION, AND MAINTE-12

NANCE OF TECHNOLOGY.— 13

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 20, 14

2021, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in car-15

rying out subsection (a), shall deploy the most prac-16

tical and effective technology available along the 17

United States border for achieving situational 18

awareness and operational control of the border. 19

‘‘(2) TECHNOLOGY DEFINED.—In this subpara-20

graph, the term ‘technology’ includes border surveil-21

lance and detection technology, including— 22

‘‘(A) radar surveillance systems; 23

‘‘(B) Vehicle and Dismount Exploitation 24

Radars (VADER); 25

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6 

•HR 5793 IH

‘‘(C) 3-dimensional, seismic acoustic detec-1

tion and ranging border tunneling detection 2

technology; 3

‘‘(D) sensors; 4

‘‘(E) unmanned cameras; 5

‘‘(F) man-portable and mobile vehicle- 6

mounted unmanned aerial vehicles; and 7

‘‘(G) any other devices, tools, or systems 8

found to be more effective or advanced than 9

those specified in subparagraphs (A) through 10

(F). 11

‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the term ‘situa-12

tional awareness’ has the meaning given the term in sec-13

tion 1092(a)(7) of the National Defense Authorization Act 14

for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114–328).’’. 15

SEC. 4. COMPREHENSIVE SOUTHERN BORDER STRATEGY. 16

(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 months after 17

the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary 18

shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of 19

the House of Representatives and the Committee on 20

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen-21

ate a comprehensive Southern border strategy. 22

(b) CONTENTS.—The strategy submitted under sub-23

section (a) shall include— 24

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7 

•HR 5793 IH

(1) a list of known physical barriers, tech-1

nologies, tools, and other devices that can be used to 2

achieve and maintain situational awareness and 3

operational control along the southern border; 4

(2) a projected per mile cost estimate for each 5

physical barrier, technology, tool, and other device 6

included on the list required under paragraph (1); 7

(3) a detailed account of which type of physical 8

barrier, technology, tool, or other device the Depart-9

ment believes is necessary to achieve and maintain 10

situational awareness and operational control for 11

each liner mile of the southern border; 12

(4) an explanation for why such physical bar-13

rier, technology, tool, or other device was chosen to 14

achieve and maintain situational awareness and 15

operational control for each linear mile of the south-16

ern border, including— 17

(A) the methodology used to determine 18

which type of physical barrier, technology, tool, 19

or other device was chosen for such linear mile; 20

(B) an examination of existing manmade 21

and natural barriers for each linear mile of the 22

southern border; and 23

(C) the information collected and evaluated 24

from— 25

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8 

•HR 5793 IH

(i) the appropriate U.S. Customs and 1

Border Protection Sector Chief; 2

(ii) the Joint Task Force Commander; 3

(iii) the appropriate State Governor; 4

(iv) local law enforcement officials; 5

(v) private property owners; and 6

(vi) other affected stakeholders; 7

(5) a per mile cost calculation for each linear 8

mile of the southern border given the type of phys-9

ical barrier, technology, tool, or other device chosen 10

to achieve and maintain operational control for each 11

linear mile; and 12

(6) a cost justification for each time a more ex-13

pensive physical barrier, technology, tool, or other 14

device is chosen over a less expensive option, as es-15

tablished by the per mile cost estimates required in 16

paragraph (2). 17

SEC. 5. ERADICATION OF CANE ALONG THE RIO GRANDE 18

RIVER. 19

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu-20

rity shall take such actions as may be necessary, including 21

through cooperation with appropriate Federal and State 22

agencies, to permanently eradicate the cane, or Arundo 23

donax, that grows along the Rio Grande river. 24

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9 

•HR 5793 IH

(b) PROHIBITION ON ADDITIONAL FUNDING.—No 1

additional funds are authorized to be appropriated to 2

carry out this section. This section shall be carried out 3

using amounts otherwise authorized. 4

SEC. 6. FUNDING. 5

(a) USE OF CERTAIN FORFEITED CRIMINAL PRO-6

CEEDS FOR BORDER SECURITY MEASURES.—Notwith-7

standing any other provision of law, any illegally obtained 8

profits resulting from any criminal drug trafficking enter-9

prise led by Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera (commonly 10

known as ‘‘El Chapo’’), which are criminally forfeited to 11

the United States Government as a result of the conviction 12

of Mr. Guzman Loera in Federal district court, shall be 13

reserved for security measures along the border between 14

the United States and Mexico, including to carry out this 15

Act and the amendments made by this Act, for the pur-16

pose of furthering the Nation’s security. 17

(b) USE OF FORFEITED CRIMINAL PROCEEDS OF 18

OTHER CONVICTED CARTEL MEMBERS.—Notwith-19

standing any other provision of law, any funds that are 20

criminally forfeited to the United States Government as 21

the result of a felony conviction in a Federal district court 22

of a member of a drug cartel—an individual engaging in 23

a continuing criminal enterprise involving knowingly and 24

intentionally distributing a controlled substance, intending 25

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10 

•HR 5793 IH

and knowing that such substance would be unlawfully im-1

ported into the United States from a place outside of the 2

United States—shall be reserved for security measures 3

along the border between the United States and Mexico, 4

including to carry out this Act and the amendments made 5

by this Act, for the purpose of furthering the Nation’s se-6

curity. 7

Æ 

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