S-572 — Shadow Wolves Improvement Act

YourVoice.Now Summary

Workers & JobsCivil LibertiesCriminal Justice & Due ProcessTransparency & Accountability

Most people would see no change — but ICE's tribal tracker unit gets steady jobs and a tribal say.

Workers & Jobs

Permanent job status for Shadow Wolves — after three years' service

Shadow Wolves who finish three years could be moved into permanent career jobs without competing for them. Where they are stationed would not matter.

Pay information before a job switch — Shadow Wolves officers

ICE would hand each current Shadow Wolves officer a written, personal breakdown. It would cover pay, overtime pay, and retirement. It would list the training steps. It would say if they can skip fitness, medical, or lie detector tests.

Civil Liberties

Tribal governments' say over ICE unit — coordination would be required

ICE would have to work with tribal governments, including the Tohono O'odham Nation, to set what this unit does. The unit works on their land.

Criminal Justice & Due Process

ICE units on more tribal lands — planning steps only

ICE would have to write rules for picking new tribal lands that could host Shadow Wolves units. The bill does not approve any new unit or any money for one.

Transparency & Accountability

Deadline for measurable hiring goals — 180 days after enactment

ICE would have six months to update its Shadow Wolves plan with countable hiring and retention targets, plus dates for hitting them. Today's plan does not include them.

More about this bill

Most people would notice nothing from this bill. The Shadow Wolves are trackers who work for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). They follow smugglers on Tohono O'odham Nation land in Arizona, near the Mexico border. Tribal governments would get a formal say in what the unit does. ICE would also have 180 days to add countable hiring targets to its plan for the unit. For the trackers themselves, two things would change. After three years on the job, they could move into permanent career jobs. Those come with the protections other career federal workers have. ICE would also have to give each current tracker a written breakdown. It would show how switching to a special agent job changes pay, overtime, and retirement. No new money is set aside for any of this.

Congressional Summary

Shadow Wolves Improvement ActThis bill allows for the revision of the federal employment classification of the Shadow Wolves, a tactical patrol unit in Homeland Security Investigations currently operating on the lands of the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona on the U.S.-Mexico border, and establishes other requirements related to the expansion of the Shadow Wolves program.Specifically, the bill allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to noncompetitively convert certain special agents serving in the Shadow Wolves program from the excepted service to the competitive service. Competitive service positions in the federal government are subject to examinations and a statutorily defined hiring process. These agents must have served in the unit for three years to qualify for the conversion regardless of the location assigned. In coordination with appropriate representatives of partnering tribal governments, including the Tohono O'odham Nation, ICE must (1) specify the mission and goals of the Shadow Wolves program, and (2) update the strategy for the expansion of the program.Additionally, ICE must (1) determine national staffing needs and required skills for the program, (2) provide current Shadow Wolves classified as officers written information about reclassifying as special agents, (3) develop a succession plan for anticipated retirements among agents in the program, and (4) develop criteria for evaluating and selecting additional tribal lands on which additional Shadow Wolves units may be located.ICE must report to specified congressional committees regarding the implementation of this bill.

Legislative Subjects

Border security and unlawful immigrationCongressional oversightDrug trafficking and controlled substancesFederal-Indian relationsGovernment employee pay, benefits, personnel managementHuman traffickingLaw enforcement administration and fundingLaw enforcement officersSmuggling and trafficking

Details

Congress: 119th
Chamber: Senate
Status: summarized
Action: Reported to Senate
Action Date: 2025-11-03
Date Added: 2026-07-17
Source: Congress.gov →

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