Lankford, Sinema Bring Solutions for Border Patrol Recruitment, Drone Defense at the Southern Border

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Senator James Lankford (R-OK), lead Republican on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Government Operations and Border Management, was joined by Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), chair of the Subcommittee, to introduce the Protecting the Border from Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act and the Border Patrol Enhancement Act in order to ensure our border security can hire and train the highest quality law enforcement officers and agents and to ensure they have the tools needed to protect Americans from modern technological security threats on our southern border.

“Biden just authorized sending 1,500 active duty US troops to our southern border because of a mess he created, and he won’t fix,” said Lankford. “To make matters worse, Title 42 expires next week, which will likely bring a flood of new threats to our southern border. Instead of making sure Border Patrol has the tools and personnel they need, the Biden Administration has tied the hands of our Border Patrol, which has made it hard to recruit and retain the best and brightest. We should pass our Border Patrol Enhancement Act to be sure Border Patrol has the people and tools they need to do their job and the incentives to bring in the best people.

“We need to call upon the Federal Aviation Administration to make sure we have a strategy in place to combat unmanned aircraft systems that continue to challenge our border security and help the cartels scope out our border. As Biden refuses to address his failures at the southern border, our border law enforcement needs us to stand up for them. I’m glad to continue to work with Senator Sinema to find solutions to the issues they face today and the technology they will have to contend with tomorrow.”

“A secure border relies on a strong Border Patrol workforce. Our legislation equips Border Patrol agents with the resources and support to secure the border, protect Arizona communities, and ensure the fair and humane treatment of migrants,” said Sinema.

Background

The Border Patrol Enhancement Act would provide a much-needed 14 percent pay raise to our Border Patrol agents during this current border crisis as well as increase the number of total Border Patrol agents to 20,500. The legislation also standardizes professional development and training requirements for all Border Patrol agents.

The Protecting the Border from Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act would require collaboration among the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and Defense and the Federal Aviation Administration to come up with a strategy to combat unauthorized drone activity on the southern border. The bill would also ensure we maintain and increase transparency about the threats facing Americans from drones along our border and make sure that as we combat unauthorized drones from adversaries and consider deploying our own technologies, we keep Americans’ privacy at the forefront.

###