The "BEST Facilitation Act" establishes an image technician pilot program within U.S. Customs and Border Protection to enhance border security and trade efficiency through advanced image analysis of cargo and conveyances.
Juan Ciscomani
Representative
AZ-6
The "BEST Facilitation Act" establishes an image technician pilot program within U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Office of Field Operations, where trained technicians review non-intrusive inspection images to identify contraband and other illicit activities, and then refer them to CBP officers. The Act mandates specific training, assessment, and reporting requirements to evaluate the program's effectiveness in improving border security and trade facilitation. This pilot program will operate for five years, after which the image technicians may be transferred to other comparable positions within the agency.
Border Scrutiny Gets a Tech Upgrade: New 'Image Techs' to Scan for Contraband Under 5-Year Pilot Program
The "Border Enforcement, Security, and Trade Facilitation Act of 2025" (or BEST Facilitation Act) is rolling out a new system for checking cargo and vehicles at the border. Here’s the deal: It creates a pilot program adding "Image Technicians" to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) – but these aren't your typical border patrol officers.
Eyes on the Screen
This bill, specifically Section 2, sets up two new roles: Image Technician 1 and Image Technician 2. These folks, pulled from existing CBP staff (not new hires or contractors), will be stationed at regional command centers. Their main gig? Reviewing images from non-intrusive inspections – think X-rays and similar scans – of anything crossing the border, in or out. They're looking for anything fishy: drugs, weapons, people trying to enter or exit illegally, or any other concealed contraband. If they spot something, they flag it for the actual CBP officers, who still make the final call on whether to let things through or do a deeper inspection.
Training Day, Every Year
These Image Techs won't be thrown in blind. The bill mandates they get annual training, plus extra sessions as needed. They'll be schooled in spotting suspicious stuff, analyzing images, understanding privacy rules, and recognizing the latest tricks used by smugglers (Section 2). Plus, they'll be tested every year on how well they're doing their jobs.
The Real-World Rollout
So, what does this mean for the average person or business? If you're a trucker hauling goods across the border, this could mean faster processing times – if the Image Techs can quickly and accurately analyze those scans. Or, if you are a small business importing materials, quicker scan analysis can lead to faster delivery of your supplies. However, it could also mean more scrutiny if the system flags something incorrectly. The bill aims for five regional command centers to handle all this image review, covering land, sea, air, and rail ports (Section 2).
Watching the Watchers
To keep things transparent, CBP has to report to Congress every six months (Section 3). They'll have to share stats on how many Image Techs are working, how many images they're scanning, how well they're doing on their tests, and – this is key – whether the program is actually speeding things up at the border and catching more illegal stuff. The big question is whether these Image Techs will be better at spotting trouble than regular CBP officers. The bill wants that comparison laid out clearly.
Five-Year Test Drive
This whole setup is a pilot program. It sunsets after five years (Section 2). Meaning, unless Congress decides it's working well and renews it, the Image Technician positions will disappear. If that happens, the people in those roles can transfer to other jobs within CBP or the Department of Homeland Security.