The U.S. Senate on June 5 approved a bipartisan bill from U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) that would enhance security at the northern border.
Introduced in July 2023 by bill sponsor U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) and cosponsored by Sen. Collins, the Northern Border Coordination Act, S. 2291, would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish the Northern Border Coordination Center.
The center would serve as a coordination mechanism for implementing, evaluating, and updating the Northern Border Strategy, a bill summary said.
“The Northern Border Coordination Center established by this bipartisan bill will support border operations and enhance domain awareness with the shared goal of keeping Maine safe and secure,” Sen. Collins said. “This legislation is a valuable step forward in assessing and prioritizing the efforts on the ground at our Northern Border.”
If approved by the House of Representatives and signed into law, the coordination center would be co-located with an existing U.S. Border Patrol sector headquarters at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Michigan, the U.S. Border Patrol Northern Border Coordination Center, an Air and Marine Operations Branch, and a U.S. Coast Guard air station, and other existing DHS activities.
“The Northern Border Coordination Center will ensure that the Department of Homeland Security remains focused on the unique security needs of our nation’s Northern Border in addition to their other critical national security missions,” Sen. Peters said.