Rep. Garbarino introduces legislation to help DHS retain, recruit officers to counter transnational crimes

Worried about personnel shortages at the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit (TCIU) program of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), new House legislation would authorize new incentivization to officers for retention and recruitment purposes.

The DHS Transnational Criminal Investigative Units Supplemental Pay Act was introduced by U.S. Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, and co-sponsored by eight of his colleagues. It would allow HSI to pay law enforcement officers as incentivization, an important means of retention and employment for teams of special agents that span 13 countries worldwide.

These teams investigate and prosecute international criminals deemed to pose security threats to the United States. They identify targets, collect evidence, share intelligence, and aid the prosecution of transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) in their homelands and through the U.S. judicial system.

“My constituents are all too familiar with the damage that transnational criminal organizations can do,” Garbarino said. “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. DHS has confirmed that hundreds of thousands of known gotaways evaded border patrol last year, and those numbers are only increasing. By strengthening the ranks of TCIU, we can take on these criminal organizations at the source and head off transnational criminals before they reach our border.”

The TCIU is active both in El Salvador, where the referenced MS-13 gang is based and in Mexico, among other places. Last year, TCIUs helped with the arrests of 2,574 people and seized more than $9.7 million in currency, $22.4 million in counterfeit goods, $11.3 million in real estate, and $21.3 million in general merchandise. As for drugs, the teams also locked up 246,100 pounds of cocaine, 6,893 pounds of marijuana, 346 pounds of fentanyl, and 58,883 pounds of other drugs, plus weapons, vehicles, and more.

“The mission of HSI’s Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit is critical to the stability of our homeland security and the fight to slow the amount of drugs pouring across the border, particularly as we see TCOs exploiting the administration’s weak border policies for their gain,” U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY), ranking member of the Committee on Homeland Security, said. “When we lose these TCIU officers, we lose their irreplaceable knowledge and expertise.”