Border technology bill passes the House
A bipartisan bill to accelerate the use of artificial intelligence in border enforcement passed the House on Monday, kicking the Emerging Innovative Border Technologies Act up to the Senate for consideration.
The legislation from Reps. Lou Correa, D-Calif., and Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, passed the House last year as well, but stalled out on the upper chamber’s calendar in December.
Correa, ranking member of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border Security & Enforcement, and Luttrell both issued statements Monday calling for the Senate to move on the bill. The legislation — which would require the Homeland Security secretary to submit a comprehensive plan to Congress detailing how the agency could leverage AI, machine learning and nanotechnology to more effectively patrol the border — seems to align with President Donald Trump’s overarching border security goals.
“Border security means keeping drugs and other negative elements away from our communities, as well as utilizing cutting-edge technology that is already available to maintain trade and commerce and give our hard-working officers the tools they need to keep us safe,” Correa said in a press release. “With this bipartisan effort, Congress will better-understand how our officers can use new technology to stop the fentanyl trade.”
The bill also takes into account elements of the AI roadmap DHS released last year, specifically plans for the testing of technologies that bring about benefits to advance homeland security without compromising Americans’ privacy or civil liberties.
“Securing our border requires more than just manpower — it requires cutting-edge technology that gives our agents the tools they need to stay ahead of the threats we face,” Luttrell said in a statement. “This bill passing the House with strong bipartisan support shows that securing our border isn’t a partisan issue, it’s a national security priority.”
In an interview with FedScoop last month, Correa said the legislation would cut through the “purchasing acquisition bureaucracy” to ensure DHS gets access to the best, most cost-effective technology to secure the border as quickly as possible.
Luttrell previously told FedScoop that the bill to advance technological adoption within DHS comes at a time when “cartels and all the bad actors globally are really moving in the tech space, or in the cyber metaverse.” Those groups are “using those capabilities to defeat us.”
“It’s unconventional warfare,” he added. “It’s really guerrilla warfare tactics at the border. [DHS needs] every asset they can have.”
