PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 6, 2025
Cartel And Radical Terrorist Enforcement Log Act of 2025 or the CARTEL Act of 2025
This bill requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection to publish each month statistics related to encounters and arrests. The report must include, for example, the total number of individuals affiliated with transnational criminal organizations who have repeatedly attempted to cross unlawfully into the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security must report annually on foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations attempting to move their members or affiliates into the United States through the southern, northern, or maritime border.
People & committees
Rep. Luttrell, Morgan [R-TX-8] · R–TX
Legislative record
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Referred to the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence.
Referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Jul 9, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-06 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed CARTEL Act of 2025 would require U.S. Customs and Border Protection to publish monthly border enforcement statistics for the public. These would include information about people listed in the terrorist screening database and people affiliated with transnational criminal organizations, including repeat unlawful crossing attempts and outcomes after apprehension. The Department of Homeland Security would also have to give Congress recurring assessments of specified organizations attempting to move members or affiliates across U.S. borders.
This Act may be cited as the Cartel And Radical Terrorist Enforcement Log Act of 2025 or the CARTEL Act of 2025.
the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall publish on a publicly available website of the Department of Homeland Security
(1) The total number of individuals included in the terrorist screening database (as such term is defined in section 2101 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 621)) who have repeatedly attempted to cross unlawfully into the United States. (2) The total number of individuals included in the terrorist screening database who have been apprehended, including information relating to whether such individuals were released into the United States or removed. (3) The total number of individuals affiliated with transnational criminal organizations who have repeatedly attempted to cross unlawfully into the United States. (4) The total number of individuals affiliated with transnational criminal organizations who have been apprehended, including information relating to whether such individuals were released into the United States or removed.
Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate an assessment of foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations attempting to move their members or affiliates into the United States through the southern, northern, or maritime border.
Monthly publication would begin in the second full month after enactment. The Customs and Border Protection Commissioner would have to publish the previous month's statistics by the seventh day of each month on a publicly available Department of Homeland Security website.
Not later than the seventh day of each month beginning with the second full month after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall publish on a publicly available website of the Department of Homeland Security
and all other related or associated statistics recorded by U.S. Customs and Border Protection during the immediately preceding month.
Required statistics would cover total and unique encounters with noncitizens; apprehensions involving gang affiliation; drug seizures; encounters involving people in the terrorist screening database; arrests of noncitizens classified as criminal or individuals wanted by law enforcement; the category called “known got aways”; encounters with deceased noncitizens; and encounters and apprehensions involving affiliation with transnational criminal organizations. Nationality information would be required for the categories expressly listed with nationalities, along with all other related statistics recorded by the agency.
information relating to the total number of alien encounters and nationalities, unique alien encounters and nationalities, gang affiliated apprehensions and nationalities, drug seizures, alien encounters included in the terrorist screening database and nationalities, arrests of criminal aliens or individuals wanted by law enforcement and nationalities, known got aways, encounters with deceased aliens, alien encounters and apprehensions affiliated with transnational criminal organizations, and all other related or associated statistics recorded by U.S. Customs and Border Protection during the immediately preceding month.
Each monthly publication would have to count people in the terrorist screening database who repeatedly attempted unlawful entry, and separately count people affiliated with transnational criminal organizations who repeatedly attempted unlawful entry. These requirements concern numbers of people, rather than just numbers of attempts.
(1) The total number of individuals included in the terrorist screening database (as such term is defined in section 2101 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 621)) who have repeatedly attempted to cross unlawfully into the United States.
(3) The total number of individuals affiliated with transnational criminal organizations who have repeatedly attempted to cross unlawfully into the United States.
Each monthly publication would also have to count apprehended people in the terrorist screening database and apprehended people affiliated with transnational criminal organizations. For both groups, it would have to include information about whether they were released into the United States or removed from the country.
(2) The total number of individuals included in the terrorist screening database who have been apprehended, including information relating to whether such individuals were released into the United States or removed.
(4) The total number of individuals affiliated with transnational criminal organizations who have been apprehended, including information relating to whether such individuals were released into the United States or removed.
Within 90 days after enactment, and annually afterward, the Homeland Security Secretary would have to assess foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations attempting to move members or affiliates into the United States across southern, northern, or maritime borders. The assessment would go to the House Homeland Security Committee and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate an assessment of foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations attempting to move their members or affiliates into the United States through the southern, northern, or maritime border.
For the congressional assessment, “foreign terrorist organization” would mean an organization described in section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The proposal references that existing law without reproducing its criteria.
In this section, the term foreign terrorist organization means an organization described in section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189).
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated July 9, 2026, records introduction in the House and referrals to the House Homeland Security Committee and its Counterterrorism and Intelligence Subcommittee on February 6, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2026-07-09T13:27:22Z. 2025-02-06: Referred to the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. 2025-02-06: Referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security. 2025-02-06: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-06. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated rider was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish the contents of other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow carve-out, special exemption, or preferential treatment was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Jul 9, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI