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As first reported by Fox News, U.S. Representative Young Kim (CA-39) and House Homeland Security Committee Vice Ranking Member Michael Guest (MS-03) today introduced the Comprehensive Southern Border Strategy Act.
Currently under federal law, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has completed a comprehensive Northern border strategy, but no strategy currently exists for our Southern border.
This bill directs DHS to submit a comprehensive strategy within 12 months of enactment to the House Committee on Homeland Security and Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs that includes:
- An overview of the current security risks at the Southern border;
- A review of DHS’s tools used to combat drug trafficking with a focus on fentanyl and related substances;
- A detailed account of which type of physical barrier, technology or other device DHS believes is best to maintain operational control for each mile of the Southern border and why;
- A per mile cost calculation for each mile of the Southern border for which type of security device used; and,
- Cost justifications for each time a more expensive device was chosen.
“Border security is imperative for national security, public safety and economic success of communities. As we see the border crisis continue to reach record-high numbers of illegal migrant and illicit drug encounters, we must ensure that our government, regardless of who is leading the administration, is making border security a priority,” said Kim. “The Comprehensive Southern Border Strategy Act will help better allocate resources to secure our border and equip our border patrol and CBP officers on the front lines with the tools they need to gain operational control of every mile of our U.S.-Mexico border. We have a strategy for our Northern border, and it’s past time we have one for our Southern border. I thank I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense bill.”
“For over a year, the Biden Administration has targeted the legal and physical infrastructure that law enforcement agents rely upon to secure our southwest border and has continued to send mixed messages often interpreted by potential migrants that the border is open to any and all who wish to cross. Despite the chaos caused by the Biden Administration’s actions, the President, Vice President, and Biden-appointed DHS officials have refused to develop any actionable plan to address the border crisis. It’s time to hold them accountable to the American people,” said Guest.
Read the bill text HERE.
