WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced Dec. 15 that the president has signed the Northern Border Security Review Act, a bipartisan bill to assess and strengthen American security at the northern border, into law.
Both senators are cosponsors of the legislation, which aims to make sure that Maine communities remain strong and safe.
“It’s absolutely critical that we have a secure northern border, and the comprehensive review triggered by this bill is a valuable step forward in assessing and strengthening those efforts on the ground,” said Collins and King in a joint statement.
“We’re glad that the president has signed the Northern Border Security Review Act into law, and will continue to work with Maine law enforcement, federal partners, and other border community members with the shared goal of keeping Maine safe and secure.”
Now law, the Northern Border Security Review Act requires the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to evaluate security threats at the border — the longest common land border in the world — through a comprehensive examination of current resources and personnel levels. The assessments called for in the bill will help tackle the coordination challenges that federal border security officials and local law enforcement face, and address how to recruit and retain a strong border security workforce.
The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously approved the bill late last month, just weeks after it unanimously passed in the U.S. Senate. After the bill passed the Senate, Senators Collins and King received a classified briefing by high-ranking officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on threat reporting, smuggling and trafficking trends, border security technology requirements and staffing in remote locations.
At 5,500 miles long, including 1,500 miles between Alaska and Canada, the northern border has more than 120 border crossings, many of which are small and in rural areas. Approximately 300,000 people and $910 million in trade cross the border every day.
The act will require a comprehensive examination of how to strengthen American security at the northern border, focusing on such issues as recruiting and retaining border security officials, including at more remote areas; determining tools border security officials need to effectively combat drug and human trafficking; identifying technology that could expand the reach of border agents; and finding vulnerabilities in cooperation between state, county, local, tribal, and Canadian law enforcement.
