This bill directs the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to work with the Department of Homeland Security on federal lands that touch the borders with Mexico and Canada. It requires an inventory and installation of navigable roads and technology on those lands to deter illegal crossings, improve DHS access, and help gain operational control of the borders. The bill allows DHS to use vehicles, aircraft, roads, tactical infrastructure, and to construct and maintain roads and physical barriers inside wilderness areas for border security. It requires cooperative agreements between land agencies and DHS, an inventory and review of previously unauthorized roads and trails created by illegal crossings, and a Border Fuels Management Initiative to reduce hazardous fuels and address invasive species. The bill also requires multiple reports to Congress documenting incidents of environmental degradation, wildland fires, and effects on National Park and Wildlife Refuge units and ranching connected to aliens without lawful immigration status. Finally, it bars federal funds from being used to provide housing to aliens without lawful immigration status on lands managed by the land agencies, except for facilities used primarily for custody, detention, processing, or removal.
No publicly available information on estimated costs or dedicated funding. The bill directs agencies to build and maintain roads, install technology, run inventories and reports, and carry out a fuels management initiative, which would use agency resources.
The bill is written to deter illegal border crossings, increase DHS access and control along the borders, protect public lands from damage caused by unauthorized crossings, and reduce wildland fire risk through fuels management.
No publicly available information.