Bill would rein in Border Patrol's interior arrest power, require public reporting
S. 3571 — Keeping Our Agents on the Line Act · Filed by Christopher Murphy (D-CT) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Dec 18, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill restricts U.S. Border Patrol officers to operating within 25 miles of the U.S. land border or territorial sea, reversing recent expansions of their interior arrest authority. It requires the agency to report publicly on checkpoint performance, agent training in constitutional search-and-seizure law, and the outcomes of all interactions with citizens, residents, and aliens in the interior.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is to constrain federal law enforcement authority (Border Patrol) to a defined geographic zone and require public reporting on their conduct. This is a restraint on government power, not a subsidy, carve-out, or private benefit.
What the text implies
- Checkpoint data reporting may reveal patterns of racial profiling or disparate enforcement if disaggregated by citizenship status and encounter outcomes.
- The 25-mile limit may create operational friction with state/local law enforcement who have relied on Border Patrol for interior immigration enforcement, potentially shifting costs to those agencies.
- Public reporting of agent training deficiencies may expose liability for past warrantless arrests and detentions, creating potential litigation exposure for CBP.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Ordinary citizens gain protection against warrantless arrests by Border Patrol agents operating far from the border with inadequate training in constitutional law. Public reporting on checkpoint data and arrest outcomes increases transparency and accountability for federal law enforcement.
Named in the bill
U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Homeland Security, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Dec 18, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Dec 18, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (4,541 characters) on May 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Bill would rein in Border Patrol's interior arrest power, require public reporting” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s3571 Report an error
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