S 1625119th CongressIn Committee

SHIELD Against CCP Act

Introduced: May 6, 2025

Defense & National SecurityImmigrationTechnology & Innovation

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

SHIELD Against CCP Act would create a new Working Group within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) tasked with countering a range of threats the bill attributes to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The Working Group would focus on terrorist, cybersecurity, border/port security, and transportation security threats, and would be led by a Director appointed by the DHS Secretary. It would coordinate DHS resources, review current programs, identify policy gaps, and promote cross-office collaboration. The bill requires annual (and five-year) assessments to Congress, promotes information sharing with fusion centers and law enforcement/intelligence partners, and supports research and development of technologies to strengthen security. It also imposes privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties protections, ensures free speech is not infringed, and provides for a sunset after seven years. The act explicitly targets CCP-related activities including identity theft, immigration process manipulation, border crossing and trafficking, counterfeit/trade abuses, fentanyl and other drug trafficking, and illicit financial flows.

Key Points

1Establishment and leadership
2- Creates within DHS a Working Group to counter CCP-related terrorist, cybersecurity, border/port security, and transportation security threats. A Director, appointed by the DHS Secretary, leads the group and reports to the Secretary on administrative, operational, and security matters. The group must be staffed adequately and include at least one employee dedicated to privacy compliance; detailees from the intelligence community or other federal agencies may be brought in as needed.
3Scope of duties
4- The Working Group must examine and report on DHS efforts to counter CCP threats, including CCP use of nontraditional tactics to exploit the U.S. immigration system (identity theft, visa processes, unlawful border crossings, human smuggling, human trafficking); predatory economic/trade practices (counterfeit goods, forced labor, labor exploitation, customs fraud, IP/technology theft); direct or indirect support for drug trafficking (fentanyl and other substances) across borders, mail shipments, or express shipments; and illicit financial activity by Chinese Money Laundering Organizations, including repatriation of proceeds.
5Information sharing and coordination
6- The group must account for DHS resources dedicated to these programs, build on or avoid duplicating existing evaluations, identify policy gaps, and facilitate cross-office coordination to create a holistic response. It must coordinate with DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis and incorporate information gathered from federal, state, local, tribal, territorial partners, and the National Network of Fusion Centers, ensuring appropriate dissemination.
7Information sharing and dissemination
8- The Working Group will review information related to CCP threats gathered across government partners and ensure dissemination to relevant partners (federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, and fusion centers) in coordination with DHS’s intelligence office.
9Annual assessments to Congress
10- Beginning within 180 days after enactment and annually for five years, DHS (with key intelligence and security leads) must submit an unclassified assessment (with a possible classified annex) detailing CCP-threat activity from the prior year, descriptions of the Working Group’s activities, and other relevant matters. The unclassified portion must be posted publicly, and briefings to Congress must occur within 30 days of each submission.
11Oversight and research
12- A Comptroller General review is due within one year to assess implementation. DHS must conduct research and development, including operational testing, of technologies to enhance security and situational awareness related to CCP threats, in coordination with DHS leadership and its science/tech offices.
13Protections and sunset
14- Activities must comply with constitutional rights and privacy protections; they may not infringe on the lawful exercise of free speech by U.S. persons. The Working Group is set to terminate seven years after establishment.
15Definitions and scope
16- The bill defines key terms (e.g., appropriate congressional committees, fusion centers, the intelligence community, National Network of Fusion Centers, and United States persons) to clarify who is involved and protected.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected- U.S. Department of Homeland Security and its components, including homeland security information sharing, fusion centers, and intelligence analysis functions; federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies involved in counterterrorism, border control, cybersecurity, and transportation security; and congressional oversight bodies reviewing DHS activities.Secondary group/area affected- Immigrant communities and travelers (through visa processes and border enforcement provisions), immigration-related service providers, and industries subject to anti-counterfeiting and labor-standards enforcement; private sector entities involved in trade, logistics, and technology supply chains.Additional impacts- Budget and staffing implications for DHS, including dedicated privacy-compliant staff and potential use of detailees; increased interagency coordination and data sharing with fusion centers; development and testing of new security technologies; enhanced public reporting of CCP-threat assessments (with a publicly accessible unclassified portion); potential shifts in U.S. policy discourse and international security posture regarding the CCP; formal sunset of the program after seven years, requiring renewal or termination of activities.The bill explicitly targets broad CCP-related activities, ranging from immigration-system manipulation and trafficking to economic crimes, fentanyl and drug trafficking, and illicit financial networks.It emphasizes privacy and civil liberties protections and affirms free speech rights, aiming to balance security with constitutional rights.It creates a structured, time-limited oversight framework with annual reporting to Congress and external evaluation by the Comptroller General.

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