HR4472-119

What This Bill Does

The Stop COYOTES Act combines criminal penalties with border-related information sharing. It creates 18 U.S.C. section 2251B, imposing up to 10 years of additional consecutive imprisonment when a person commits specified felony offenses involving a minor within 1,000 feet of schools, school-sponsored activities, playgrounds, public housing facilities, colleges, or universities, or within 100 feet of youth centers, public parks, public playgrounds, public swimming pools, or video arcade facilities. It increases fines for Controlled Substances Act fentanyl offenses by adding fentanyl-specific amounts, including $15 million, $75 million, $30 million, $112.5 million, $7.5 million, $37.5 million, $12 million, and $75 million depending on offender and quantity category. It also requires DHS to ensure ICE and CBP share collected information with each other, with state law enforcement in land-border states, and with local law enforcement within 100 miles of a land border. DHS must report to Congress every 180 days on unlawful southern-border entries, trafficking and sex trafficking involving people smuggled from Mexico, alien smuggling, kidnapping for smuggling or trafficking, abuse by traffickers or smugglers, smuggling of controlled substances and firearms, and gang or transnational-criminal-organization involvement.

Who Benefits and How

Children near schools and youth facilities benefit from enhanced penalties for specified felony offenses involving minors. Border law enforcement agencies benefit from required information sharing by ICE and CBP. Communities near land borders benefit if trafficking, smuggling, and fentanyl information is shared more consistently. Federal prosecutors benefit from added consecutive sentencing and higher fentanyl fine tools.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Defendants convicted of covered child-exploitation felonies near protected locations face up to 10 additional consecutive years in prison. Fentanyl traffickers face higher maximum fines under the Controlled Substances Act. DHS, ICE, and CBP must share information with each other and with state or local law enforcement and report every 180 days to Congress. Federal courts and prisons may bear workload and incarceration costs from enhanced penalties.

Key Provisions

• Creates a new section 2251B with up to 10 additional consecutive years for covered minor-involved felonies near schools, playgrounds, public housing, colleges, youth centers, parks, pools, or video arcades.
• Increases Controlled Substances Act fines for fentanyl offenses across several offender and quantity categories.
• Requires ICE and CBP to share information with each other and with land-border state law enforcement agencies.
• Requires information sharing with local law enforcement agencies within 100 miles of a land border.
• Requires DHS congressional reports every 180 days on unlawful entries, trafficking, smuggling, kidnapping, abuse, controlled substances, firearms, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.