Garbarino leads GOP in offering bill to incentivize retention of transnational law officers

U.S. Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) on May 18 proposed a bill that would authorize a total of $4 million to help address personnel shortages in the Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit Program within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“By strengthening the ranks of TCIU [Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit] we can take on criminal organizations at the source and head off transnational criminals before they reach our border,” Rep. Garbarino said. 

The DHS Transnational Criminal Investigative Units Supplemental Pay Act, H.R. 7821, which Rep. Garbarino sponsored with eight GOP original cosponsors, including U.S. Reps. John Katko (R-NY), Michael McCaul (R-TX), and Peter Meijer (R-MI), would authorize $2 million for each of fiscal years 2023 and 2024 for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to provide stipends to certain vetted foreign members of TCIUs, according to the bill’s text.

“Our frontline border law enforcement are being crushed under the dangerous impacts of the Biden administration’s reckless border security policies which are resulting in an increase in retirements and resignations,” said Rep. Katko. “When we lose these TCIU officers, we lose their irreplaceable knowledge and expertise.”

TCIUs are part of DHS’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and operate as teams of special agents based in 13 countries across North America, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, and Asia. They investigate and prosecute individuals involved in transnational criminal activity, help identify targets — such as MS-13 gang members and drug smugglers — collect evidence, share intelligence, and facilitate the prosecution of transnational criminal organizations, according to information provided by Rep. Garbarino’s staff.

“My constituents are all too familiar with the damage that transnational criminal organizations can do. Border patrol is being overwhelmed by the record-breaking number of migrants attempting to cross our border, which has allowed violent transnational criminal organizations like MS-13 to slip through the cracks and infiltrate our country,” Rep. Garbarino said. “DHS has confirmed that hundreds of thousands of known gotaways evaded border patrol last year and those numbers are only increasing.” 

If enacted, H.R. 7821 would specifically give HSI the authority to provide the stipends to TCIU law enforcement officers for both retention and recruitment incentives.

“It is critical that Congress support efforts like the TCIU Program by providing the necessary authority and resources to our agencies responsible for protecting the homeland, especially as we continue to experience unprecedented levels of illegal immigration and human smuggling operations at our southern border,” said Rep. Meijer.

“I want to thank Congressman Garbarino for his leadership on this issue, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to continue supporting our federal law enforcement officers and enhancing cooperation with our foreign partners,” Rep. Meijer added.