Among the provisions included in the recent $1.2 trillion funding agreement signed by President Joe Biden was a carve-out of $3 million to establish and manage a Northern Border Coordination Center.
Championed by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, that funding will see a new means of coordinating security along the U.S.-Canada border. It will be collocated with existing Department of Homeland Security components operating out of Selfridge Air National Guard Base.
Additional legislation still being debated – the Northern Border Coordination Act – would require DHS to create the center and use it to track security metrics, train personnel, test technologies and support implementation of an overall strategy for the border.
“The federal funding I secured to establish a Northern Border Coordination Center will help the Department of Homeland Security prioritize the needs of the Northern Border and build on the critical role Selfridge Air National Guard Base plays in protecting our nation,” Peters said. “The funding will help coordinate border security efforts across the Northern Border, and support personnel training and high-tech border security technology testing. I’ll continue working to ensure that Michigan and assets like Selfridge remain at the forefront of our nation’s homeland and national security missions.”
Under the law signed this week, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security was directed to stand up the Northern Border Coordination Center collocated with an existing U.S. Border Patrol sector headquarters, the U.S. Border Patrol Northern Border Coordination Center, an Air and Marine Operations Branch, and a U.S. Coast Guard air station, among other things.