Sec. 202. Establishment of border community stakeholder advisory committee
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Subtitle C of title IV of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended by section 201 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following new section: The Secretary shall establish within the Department a border community stakeholders advisory committee pursuant to section 871 of this Act. The Secretary shall consult with the Advisory Committee, as appropriate, on border security and immigration enforcement matters, including on the development, refinement, and implementation of policies, protocols, programs, and rulemaking pertaining to border security and immigration enforcement that may impact border communities.
The Advisory Committee shall develop, at the request of the Secretary, recommendations regarding policies, protocols, programs and rulemaking pertaining to border security and immigration enforcement that may impact border communities. The Advisory Committee shall periodically submit to the Secretary— reports on matters identified by the Secretary; and reports on other matters identified by a majority of the members of the Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee shall submit to the Secretary an annual report providing information on the activities, findings, and recommendations of the Advisory Committee, including its subcommittees, for the preceding year.
Not later than six months after the date on which the Secretary receives the annual report, the Secretary shall publish a public version describing the Advisory Committee’s activities and such related matters as would be informative to the public, consistent with section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code. Not later than 90 days after receiving recommendations transmitted by the Advisory Committee under paragraph (4), the Secretary shall respond in writing to the Advisory Committee with feedback on each of the recommendations, an action plan to implement any of the recommendations with which the Secretary concurs, and a justification for why any of the recommendations have been rejected.
Not later than 30 days after providing written feedback to the Advisory Committee under paragraph (5), the Secretary shall notify the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate on such feedback, and provide a briefing upon request. Prior to briefing the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate under paragraph (6), the Secretary shall submit to such committees a report containing information relating to the recommendations transmitted by the Advisory Committee in accordance with paragraph (4).
Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall appoint the members of the Advisory Committee. The membership of the Advisory Committee shall consist of a border community stakeholder from each of the nine U.S. Border Patrol sectors and three individuals with significant expertise and experience in immigration law, civil rights, and civil liberties, particularly as relates to interests of residents of border communities. The term of each member of the Advisory Committee shall be two years.
A member of the Advisory Committee may be reappointed. The Secretary may review the participation of a member of the Advisory Committee and remove such member for cause at any time. The members of the Advisory Committee shall not receive pay, allowances, or benefits from the Government by reason of their service on the Advisory Committee. The Secretary shall require the Advisory Committee to meet at least semiannually and may convene additional meetings as necessary. At least one of the meetings described in subparagraph
(A)shall be within a Border Patrol sector and open to the public. The Advisory Committee shall maintain a record of the persons present at each meeting. Not later than 60 days after the date of a member’s appointment, the Secretary shall determine if there is cause for the member to be restricted from possessing sensitive security information. Without such cause, and upon the member voluntarily signing a non-disclosure agreement, the member may be granted access to sensitive security information that is relevant to the member’s advisory duties. The member shall protect the sensitive security information in accordance with part 1520 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations. A stakeholder representative on the Advisory Committee who is elected by the appointed membership of the Advisory Committee shall chair the Advisory Committee. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Advisory Committee and its subcommittees. In this section: The term Advisory Committee means the border community stakeholder advisory committee established under subsection (a). The term border community stakeholder means individuals who have ownership interests or reside in the land borders of the United States and who have not publicly taken positions on the Trump Administration’s border security and immigration enforcement actions, including— a landowner within 10 miles of a land border of the United States; a business leader in a company operating within 10 miles of a land border of the United States; a local official from a community on a land border of the United States; and a representative of Indian tribes on a land border of the United States. . The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended by section 201 of this Act, is further amended by inserting after the item relating to section 437 the following new item: Sec. 438. Establishment of Border Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee. .