House panel considers bill that would give CBP expanded access to federal lands

A House panel recently weighed a measure that would expand Customs and Border Protection (CBP) access to national forests, wildlife refuges, and other federal lands near the southern border without navigating an authorization process.

The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations weighed the provision, which was included within the larger Security America’s Future Act, during a hearing on Feb. 15.

“Cross-border violators take advantage of Border Patrol’s lack of operational flexibility on federal lands,” U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR), the subcommittee’s chairman, said. “We need to ensure that our environmental laws do not compromise Border Patrol’s ability to detect, identify, track and respond to cross-border violations.

Under current federal law, only the secretary of homeland security has authority to waive federal environmental laws and regulations that restrict CBP access to more than 30 million acres of federal lands that lie within 100 miles of the southern border, which is the agency’s jurisdictional limit.

“Access is critical. If the Border Patrol does not have access, we cannot do our job with security,” U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT), the chairman of the full committee, said. “Our environmental laws inhibit that access from taking place.”