House lawmakers take another swing at border technology bill

As the Trump administration’s crackdown on the southern border begins, a bipartisan pair of border-state lawmakers are re-introducing legislation they say would accelerate the use of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies to strengthen enforcement.

The Emerging Innovative Border Technologies Act from Reps. Lou Correa, D-Calif., and Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, passed the House last year but stalled out on the Senate’s legislative calendar in December. 

In an interview with FedScoop, Correa said the bill is aimed at cutting through the “purchasing acquisition bureaucracy” to ensure the Department of Homeland Security gets access to the best, most cost-effective technology to secure the border as quickly as possible. 

The ranking member on the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border Security & Enforcement, Correa pointed to the “fast pace” in which Ukraine has acquired tech in its fight against Russia as an example of not being “tied down by bureaucracies.”

“We keep talking about building a very expensive wall … which, by the way, has continued to be built since the days of Clinton,” Correa said. “So I want to see our defense of our country to be more … flexible to react to the threats at the moment.”

The bill, shared exclusively with FedScoop, would require the Homeland Security secretary to submit a comprehensive plan to Congress detailing how the agency could leverage artificial intelligence, machine learning and nanotechnology to more effectively patrol the border.

Recent advancements in specific technologies would also be explored by DHS under the bill, including manned aircraft sensors and unmanned aerial systems, a host of surveillance technologies, such as tower-based and mobile surveillance systems, miniature satellites and long-term evolution broadband.  

Customs and Border Protection innovation teams, meanwhile, would be able to pilot various emerging technologies along specific border regions, a move aimed at providing agents with better tools to perform their jobs. 

Luttrell said in an interview with FedScoop that he and Correa are working on finding a Senate companion for the bill. Given Republicans’ trifecta of power in Washington, he’s optimistic about its prospects, especially since the legislation was tailored to “run parallel” with President Donald Trump’s executive order on securing the nation’s borders.  

That day-one EO calls for the buildout of a “physical wall” and other barriers to be “monitored and supported” by law enforcement staffers and technology. The DHS secretary should leverage “any available technologies” to determine the status of border crossers, the order states.

The bill, Luttrell said, is all about advancing technologies inside of DHS 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.”