The United States-Mexico remains a focus of Congressional interest, and the latest offshoot of that emerged this week in the form of the Senate’s Advanced Border Coordination Act, which aims to improve law enforcement communication and coordination.
“From local sheriffs to Border Patrol and other federal law enforcement, our officers along the southern border are working every day to keep our communities safe, and we need to make it as easy as possible for them to work together,” U.S. Sen. Cortez Masto (D-NV), one of the bill’s authors, said. “Establishing more joint operations centers will help us continue to crack down on drug trafficking, human trafficking, and weapons smuggling, and I will continue working with Senator Blackburn to get this commonsense legislation signed into law.”
Together with U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Masto proposed adding more joint operations hubs for federal and local law enforcement agencies to collaborate on border security and transnational criminal activities such as drugs and human trafficking. Backed by the National Border Patrol Council, National Immigration Forum, Texas Border Coalition and the Major Cities Chiefs Association, the Advanced Border Coordination Act would direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to create at least two joint operations centers along the border and report to Congress on these centers’ activities and recommendations for action.
“Hamas’ horrific incursion into Israel and subsequent mass murder of innocent Israelis has been a solemn reminder of the critical importance of border security,” Blackburn said. “Amid an unprecedented number of illegal immigrants arriving at the southern border, our Border Patrol agents are completely overwhelmed. Establishing multiple joint operation centers along the southern border will allow local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to work together in a cohesive fashion.”
A similar bill (S. 4436) was also introduced in 2022.