Congressman Nick Langworthy introduces legislation addressing northern border security

Congressman Nick Langworthy introduced the "Northern Border Security Enhancement and Review Act" with the goal of "addressing growing security concerns along the U.S.-Canada border."

The bill is intended to ensure "greater oversight and accountability of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS),” Langworthy stated:

"Our northern border, the longest unsecured border in the world, poses a major threat to our national security, with hundreds of thousands of unidentified people arriving in our communities each year (...)  The Biden Administration's negligence has left us completely vulnerable (...) I am introducing the bill to hold the Department of Homeland Security accountable and ensure that they report to Congress."

The world's longest international border

Langworthy said in a statement that the international border between the United States and Canada is the "longest in the world" as, "it spans 5,525 miles, 11 states with land borders and two states (Ohio and Pennsylvania) with maritime borders" and highlighted the increase in crossings recorded this year at the northern border:

"9,460 people have been apprehended at the northern border, compared to 4,849 at the same time in FY23 (...) 143 individuals on the Known or Suspected Terrorist list have been apprehended, almost double the number apprehended on the Southern Border."

Congressman and co-sponsor of the bill Mike Lawler stated:

"In the first seven months of fiscal year 2024, nearly twice as many people on the known or suspected terrorist list were apprehended on our northern border as on our southern border. Enough fentanyl has been seized on the northern border to kill more than 270 million Americans. In total, nearly twice as many people have been apprehended at the northern border so far in 2024 than at the same time in 2023. Yet despite these disturbing statistics, the crisis on our porous northern border has been even more egregiously overlooked than the crisis on our southern border."

Work for DHS

According to the bill, it will:

- Mandate DHS to conduct and submit annually a northern border threat analysis, "ensuring up-to-date assessments of security risks."

- Require DHS to update its Northern Border Strategy within 90 days of the annual threat analysis and submit justification if updates are not needed.

- Require DHS to provide classified briefings to Congress within 30 days after submission of the threat analysis.

- Instruct DHS to develop performance measures to evaluate the effectiveness of Air and Marine Operations (AMO) in securing the northern border.