Cortez Masto introduces border security legislation
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., reintroduced a bill Tuesday aiming to strengthen border security by improving law enforcement communication and coordination.
The bipartisan Advanced Border Coordination Act would create “joint operation hubs” established by the Department of Homeland Security to help federal and local law enforcement agencies work together to address border security and transnational criminal activity.
The bill would direct the Department of Homeland Security to establish at least two joint operations centers along the southern border as well as require an annual report to Congress on the centers’ operational activities and recommendations for federal actions at the southern border.
Cortez Masto first introduced the bill in 2022 by herself, but it did not get past the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. This time Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., has joined on her bill, according to Cortez Masto’s office.
“There’s a lot that needs to be done to address what we see happening at the border,” Cortez Masto told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Monday.
Her legislation focuses on one piece: law enforcement, Cortez Masto said. That way local, state and federal agencies can work together when dealing with transnational crime organizations and weapons, drug and human trafficking, she said.
Other steps she believes the country needs to take to address the border include border security funding to provide law enforcement the proper resources and technology, as well as steps to address the immigration system, such as hiring more judges and asylum officers.
“It requires bipartisan support in both houses, that if we focused on finding those solutions and actually working together and not playing politics with this, we can really make a difference in addressing some of the concerns that we all have when it comes to border security,” she said.
Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.
