Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Build up Illegal Line Defenses with Assets Lawfully Lifted Act of 2023”.
Build up Illegal Line Defenses with Assets Lawfully Lifted Act of 2023
A BILL
To amend section 524(c) of title 18, United States Code, to use lawfully forfeited drug seizures to increase border security.
Sec. 2 Reservation of portion of forfeits in the Department of Justice Civil Asset Forfeiture Fund for building a physical barrier or advanced technology to prevent illegal entry over our southern border
Section 524(c) of title 28, United States Code, is amended—
in paragraph (1), by inserting “, except as provided in paragraph (12),” before “be available to the Attorney General”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(12)
“(A) Not later than on December 1 of each year, the Attorney General shall report to Congress the total of any funds in the Fund as of October 1 which are derived from Mexican cartels.
“(B) The Attorney General shall conduct an ongoing study with a view to deriving more funds than have historically been the case for the Fund from Mexican cartels. The Attorney General shall report from time to time to Congress any suggestions found through the study. The first such report shall be transmitted not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this paragraph.
“(C) An amount equal to 50 percent of the total reported under subsection (a) shall be made available without fiscal year limitation to install additional physical barriers and roads (including the removal of obstacles to detection of illegal entrants) in the vicinity of the United States border to deter illegal crossings in areas of high illegal entry into the United States.”
Sec. 3 Limitation on release of property
Section 983(f)(8) of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
by striking “or” at the end of subparagraph (C);
by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (D) and inserting “; or”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(E) is currency or contraband likely to belong to or used in support of a foreign, illegal trafficking organization.”