Northern Border Security Review Act

(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the Senate on November 16, 2016. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Northern Border Security Review Act

(Sec. 3) This bill directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to submit to specified congressional committees a northern border threat analysis, which shall include analyses of:

• terrorism and criminal threats posed by individuals and organized groups seeking to enter the United States through the northern border or to exploit border vulnerabilities on such border;
• improvements needed at and between ports of entry along the northern border to prevent terrorists and instruments of terrorism from entering the United States and to reduce criminal activity, as measured by the total flow of illegal goods, illicit drugs, and smuggled and trafficked persons moved in either direction across such border;
• gaps in law, policy, cooperation between state, tribal, and local law enforcement, international agreements, or tribal agreements that hinder border security, counterterrorism, anti-human smuggling and trafficking efforts, and the flow of legitimate trade along the northern border; and
• whether additional U.S. Customs and Border Protection preclearance and preinspection operations at ports of entry along the northern border could help prevent terrorists and instruments of terror from entering the United States.

The Secretary, for such analysis, must consider and examine:

• technology needs and challenges;
• personnel needs and challenges;
• the role of state, tribal, and local law enforcement in general border security activities;
• the need for cooperation among federal, state, tribal, local, and Canadian law enforcement entities relating to border security;
• the terrain, population density, and climate along the northern border; and
• the needs and challenges of Department of Homeland Security facilities, including the physical approaches to such facilities.