This bill requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to recruit, train, and assign at least 1,000 new CBP officers above current attrition levels every fiscal year until staffing meets the needs identified in the agency's Workload Staffing Model. It also authorizes hiring support staff for non-law-enforcement tasks. The bill directs the Commissioner to use inspection data, seasonal and commercial forecasts, pre-COVID historical volume, and outbound inspection needs when calculating staffing needs. If CBP does not meet the annual hiring target, the Comptroller General must review CBP hiring practices and report to specified congressional committees.
The bill requires a report within 90 days identifying port infrastructure upgrades, detection equipment to find opioids and related substances, and safety equipment to protect officers from accidental exposure. It adds quarterly reporting requirements on temporary duty assignments, including origins and destinations of reassigned officers, duration, costs, and impacts on reimbursable service agreements. The bill requires 10 days' notice to port directors before redeploying employees (unless an emergency) and briefings for affected employees about plans to mitigate vulnerabilities from staffing changes. It amends a trade enforcement reporting provision to describe factors considered before entering reimbursable service agreements and to include locations and total hours of reimbursable services. Finally, the bill requires the annual Workload Staffing Model report to show hiring progress, update a 2017 ports resource report, and summarize the new reporting requirements.
The bill directs CBP to grow its officer ranks and hire support staff, and it sets rules for how staffing needs must be calculated. Ports of entry will receive new reports and a required notice before most officer redeployments. Congress will receive regular data on temporary reassignments, costs, and port impacts. The bill asks for specific reports on infrastructure, drug-detection equipment, and officer safety gear.
No publicly available information on total estimated costs. The bill states hiring and assignments are "subject to appropriations," but it does not include specific funding amounts or detailed cost estimates.
According to the bill text, proponents seek to increase CBP staffing to meet documented workload needs, improve use of data and forecasts in staffing decisions, strengthen drug interdiction at ports of entry, identify needed detection and safety equipment, and increase transparency about temporary officer reassignments and reimbursable service agreements.
No publicly available information.