HR7233-119

What This Bill Does

The QR Act adds identification and verification requirements to Immigration and Nationality Act section 287. Within 180 days after enactment, DHS must require each ICE or CBP officer or employee engaged in law-enforcement or immigration-enforcement activities to wear a scannable quick response code on the uniform in a position that remains clearly visible and unobscured. The QR code must link to an official public DHS website. That website must display the officer's full name, badge number, agency, operational unit or office, and active status with timestamp verification. It may display a photograph, but may not display home addresses, telephone numbers, or other personal contact information. It must also include a secure mechanism for the public to submit complaints about the officer's conduct during an enforcement activity and publish aggregated, non-personally identifiable complaint counts for each officer who has received complaints. The bill preserves other federal, State, or local transparency, accessibility, or accountability laws and policies.

Who Benefits and How

People stopped by ICE or CBP officers, immigrant communities, legal aid organizations, civil-rights monitors, journalists, and DHS accountability officials benefit from a real-time public method to verify an officer's identity, submit conduct complaints, and see aggregate complaint information without exposing the officer's personal contact details. Legitimate ICE and CBP personnel may benefit because timestamped public verification can distinguish active officers from impostors.

Who Bears the Burden and How

DHS technology teams, ICE officers, CBP officers, DHS privacy staff, complaint intake staff, union representatives, and field supervisors must build and maintain the QR system, issue visible uniform codes, publish identity and active-status information, protect personal contact information, process secure complaints, and publish aggregate complaint counts. Officers may face increased public scrutiny tied to individual badge numbers and complaint histories.

Key Provisions

• Requires visible scannable QR codes on ICE and CBP uniforms during law-enforcement or immigration-enforcement activities.
• Requires QR codes to link to an official public DHS webpage.
• Requires the webpage to show officer name, badge number, agency, unit or office, and timestamped active status.
• Allows an officer photograph but bars home address, telephone number, and personal contact information.
• Requires a secure complaint mechanism and aggregated non-personally identifiable complaint counts.
• Preserves other federal, State, or local transparency, accessibility, or accountability requirements.