republic-os/legal/us/code/title-06/chapter-1/section-224.md

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LegalText	6 U.S.C. § 224	Other reporting requirements	us	united_states_code	code_section	6	DOMESTIC SECURITY	1	HOMELAND SECURITY ORGANIZATION	224	6 U.S.C. § 224	current	119-100	2026-06-26	official	https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc06@119-100.zip	/us/usc/t6/s224	data/legal/raw/us/code/title-06/usc06.xml	1bb76f0063ed6f1a5ee4a6cd3a23e2c4b37e247eb1f7a9200ca0c2d30f19c42c	a286ebc069cd8c7d317b4084d217abe94cd2a3642b1a3e409a909d1e92452161	059551151ec9da1db67b4f96f0f105c132d3a6f4069623b6ccce8f0b0efad203	2026-07-04	official	legal us-code

6 U.S.C. § 224 - Other reporting requirements

Text

(a) Unidentified remains (1) Reporting requirement Not later than 1 year after December 31, 2020, and annually thereafter, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall submit a report to the appropriate committees of Congress regarding all unidentified remains discovered, during the reporting period, on or near the border between the United States and Mexico, including—

(A) for each deceased person—

(i) the cause and manner of death, if known;

(ii) the sex, age (at time of death), and country of origin (if such information is determinable); and

(iii) the location of each unidentified remain;

(B) the total number of deceased people whose unidentified remains were discovered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection during the reporting period;

(C) to the extent such information is available to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the total number of deceased people whose unidentified remains were discovered by Federal, State, local or Tribal law enforcement officers, military personnel, or medical examiners offices;

(D) the efforts of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to engage with nongovernmental organizations, institutions of higher education, medical examiners and coroners, and law enforcement agencies—

(i) to identify and map the locations at which migrant deaths occur; and

(ii) to count the number of deaths that occur at such locations; and

(E) a detailed description of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Missing Migrant Program, including how the program helps mitigate migrant deaths while maintaining border security.

(2) Public disclosure Not later than 30 days after each report required under paragraph (1) is submitted, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall publish on the website of the agency the information described in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of paragraph (1) during each reporting period.

(b) Rescue beacons Not later than 1 year after December 31, 2020, and annually thereafter, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall submit a report to the appropriate committees of Congress regarding the use of rescue beacons along the border between the United States and Mexico, including, for the reporting period—

(1) the number of rescue beacons in each border patrol sector;

(2) the specific location of each rescue beacon;

(3) the frequency with which each rescue beacon was activated by a person in distress;

(4) a description of the nature of the distress that resulted in each rescue beacon activation (if such information is determinable); and

(5) an assessment, in consultation with local stakeholders, including elected officials, nongovernmental organizations, and landowners, of necessary additional rescue beacons and recommendations for locations for deployment to reduce migrant deaths.

(c) GAO report Not later than 6 months after the report required under subsection (a) is submitted to the appropriate committees of Congress, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit a report to the same committees that describes—

(1) how U.S. Customs and Border Protection collects and records border-crossing death data;

(2) the differences (if any) in U.S. Customs and Border Protection border-crossing death data collection methodology across its sectors;

(3) how U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s data and statistical analysis on trends in the numbers, locations, causes, and characteristics of border-crossing deaths compare to other sources of data on these deaths, including border county medical examiners and coroners and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;

(4) how U.S. Customs and Border Protection measures the effectiveness of its programs to mitigate migrant deaths; and

(5) the extent to which U.S. Customs and Border Protection engages Federal, State, local, and Tribal governments, foreign diplomatic and consular posts, and nongovernmental organizations—

(A) to accurately identify deceased individuals;

(B) to resolve cases involving unidentified remains;

(C) to resolve cases involving unidentified persons; and

(D) to share information on missing persons and unidentified remains, specifically with the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).

(Pub. L. 116–277, § 5, Dec. 31, 2020, 134 Stat. 3370.)

Notes

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was enacted as part of Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act of 2019, and not as part of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 which comprises this chapter.