U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D., Wednesday announced that he is an original cosponsor of legislation designed to toughen laws against the construction or financing of border tunnels. The legislation was introduced by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.).
“Insecure borders endanger the lives, safety and welfare of all Americans,” Sen. Frist said. “This legislation reflects our serious and forward-thinking commitment to sealing our leaky borders. Secure borders save lives, prevent crime and deter terrorists. Our bill promotes a common-sense strategy for addressing this growing threat to America’s homeland security. I’m proud to be an original cosponsor and expect this bill to be a part of the upcoming border security debate in the Senate.”
At present there is no law that makes it illegal to construct or finance tunnels across any international border into the United States. This bill criminalizes the construction or financing of an unauthorized tunnel or subterranean passage across an international border into the United States with a term of imprisonment up to 20 years. It also punishes those who negligently permit others to construct or use an unauthorized tunnel or subterranean passage on their land with a term of imprisonment of up to 10 years. Furthermore, the legislation provides that any person who uses a tunnel or subterranean passage to smuggle aliens, weapons, drugs, terrorists or illegal goods will be punished by doubling the sentence for the underlying offense if convicted.
In addition to imprisonment, the bill ensures that assets involved in the offense, or any property traceable to the offense, may be subject to forfeiture. Finally, the legislation instructs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to provide for criminal penalties for persons convicted under this bill, and to take into account the gravity of this crime when considering the base offense levels.