Border Tunnel Prevention Act
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Border Tunnel Prevention Act - Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit the construction or financing of an unauthorized tunnel or subterranean passage that crosses the international border between the United States and another country. Imposes a 20-year prison term for such offense. Doubles penalties for persons who use such a tunnel or passage to smuggle an alien, illegal goods, controlled substances, weapons of mass destruction, or members of a terrorist organization
Imposes a 10-year prison term on any person who knows of or recklessly disregards the construction or use of an unauthorized tunnel or passage on land that such person owns or controls.
Subjects to forfeiture any property involved in, or traceable to, the construction or financing of an unauthorized tunnel or passage.
Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to promulgate or amend sentencing guidelines to provide for increased penalties for persons convicted of criminal offenses related to the construction or financing of an unauthorized tunnel or passage.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on April 26, 2006. 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 26, 2006: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- 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 109th Congress (2005-06), 482 of the 10,701 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.5 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?
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced it on April 26, 2006, and 15 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 6 Democrats, 9 Republicans.
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 April 26, 2006, 7442 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 7442 days ago, on April 26, 2006.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 109th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2007 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
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers