HR4071-119

What This Bill Does

The Combatting International Drug Trafficking and Human Smuggling Partnership Act of 2025 amends the Homeland Security Act to give Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations personnel explicit authority to support foreign governments when a bilateral arrangement between the United States and that country permits the support. AMO personnel may conduct joint operations with appropriate foreign government officials inside the foreign country's territory.

The permitted support covers monitoring, locating, tracking, and deterring illegal drugs headed to the United States; illicit smuggling of persons into the United States; illicit smuggling of goods into the United States; terrorist threats to the United States; other threats to U.S. security or the U.S. economy; emergency humanitarian efforts; and law-enforcement capacity-building. Emergency humanitarian efforts include CBP search and rescue, medical assistance, air traffic control assistance, and transport needed for those purposes.

The bill also creates a limited claims-payment authority. The DHS Secretary may use operating-expense funds to pay money-damages claims against the United States arising in a foreign country in connection with CBP operations there. Claims must be presented within two years after the incident. The Secretary must report to the House Homeland Security Committee and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee within 90 days after the five-year expenditure authority expires, listing each payment recipient, amount, country, and justification.

Who Benefits and How

CBP Air and Marine Operations, foreign partner border-security agencies, foreign partner maritime-police units, foreign search-and-rescue agencies, U.S. communities affected by drug trafficking, U.S. border communities affected by human smuggling, DHS law-enforcement planners, and congressional homeland-security overseers benefit because the bill gives AMO a clearer legal basis for foreign joint operations, interdiction support, humanitarian support, and capacity-building before threats reach the United States.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The Department of Homeland Security, DHS Secretary, Customs and Border Protection, CBP Air and Marine Operations personnel, U.S. officials negotiating bilateral arrangements, foreign partner governments, foreign officials participating in joint operations, foreign claimants seeking damages, DHS claims adjudicators, DHS budget offices, House Homeland Security Committee staff, and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee staff must comply with bilateral limits, foreign-territory operations, claims deadlines, operating-expense payments, five-year sunset rules, and payment-reporting requirements.

Key Provisions

• Authorizes CBP Air and Marine Operations personnel to support foreign governments under bilateral arrangements.
• Authorizes joint operations with appropriate foreign officials inside foreign territory.
• Provides support authority for illegal drugs, smuggling of persons, smuggling of goods, terrorism, and other U.S. security or economic threats.
• Provides support authority for emergency humanitarian efforts and law-enforcement capacity-building.
• Defines emergency humanitarian efforts to include search and rescue, medical assistance, air traffic control assistance, and necessary transport.
• Authorizes DHS to pay certain money-damages claims arising from CBP foreign-country operations if filed within two years.
• Requires a post-sunset report to congressional homeland-security committees on each claims payment.