Border Enforcement Accountability, Oversight, and Community Engagement Act of 2014
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Border and Maritime Security.
Border Enforcement Accountability, Oversight, and Community Engagement Act of 2014 - Establishes: (1) the Department of Homeland Security Border Oversight Commission, and (2) a northern border subcommittee and a southern border subcommittee within the Commission.
Requires the Commission and the subcommittees to: (1) recommend border enforcement policy improvements; (2) evaluate policies of federal agencies operating along the borders to protect due process and human rights of border residents and visitors, protect land owner private property rights, and reduce the number of migrant deaths; (3) recommend safety improvements for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel; and (4) evaluate training and the extent to which CBP supervisory and management personnel practices encourage workforce development and promote field safety.
Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to rename the position of Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as the Ombudsman for Border and Immigration Related Concerns. Revises related function and administrative provisions, including requiring the Ombudsman to establish a Border Community Liaison Office in each Border Patrol sector on the northern and southern borders.
Sets forth specified training and continuing education requirements for CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel.
Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to submit to Congress an assessment of current guidelines for managing ports of entry under DHS control.
Directs: (1) CBP to report to Congress regarding deaths occurring along the U.S.-Mexico border, and (2) the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review such report.
Directs: (1) GAO to examine the extent to which CBP has clarified use of force policies, and (2) the Secretary to require CBP to implement any recommendations contained in such examination.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on March 26, 2014. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on April 25, 2014: Referred to the Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Beto O'Rourke (D-TX) introduced it on March 26, 2014, and 8 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 7 Democrats, 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 26, 2014, 4551 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4521 days ago, on April 25, 2014.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers