Emerging Innovative Border Technologies Act
The Emerging Innovative Border Technologies Act would require the Secretary of Homeland Security to fast-track a plan to identify, integrate, and deploy new, innovative, disruptive, or other emerging technologies that are safe and secure to boost U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) capabilities along international borders and at ports of entry. The bill sets up CBP Innovation Teams to research and adapt technologies, mandating close coordination with DHS offices (CIO, Privacy Officer, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Officer, General Counsel, and others) and with the Department’s Science and Technology Directorate. It requires a comprehensive plan within 180 days of enactment, annual reporting to Congress, and a cost-benefit check before large-scale deployment. The plan and teams are designed to balance security gains with privacy, civil rights, and legal considerations, while aiming to transition successful pilots into formal programs of record and potentially phase out outdated legacy technologies.
Key Points
- 1180-day plan requirement: DHS, CBP, and DHS science/technology leadership must submit a plan to identify, integrate, and deploy emerging border technologies, with input from privacy, civil rights, and legal offices.
- 2CBP Innovation Teams: Establish or maintain one or more teams to research, adapt, and pilot new commercial technologies, ensuring alignment with DHS/CBP policies and privacy/civil rights protections; teams must document roles, transition procedures, costs, timelines, and performance metrics.
- 3Plan contents and coordination: The plan must detail how teams operate, how they coordinate with CBP’s acquisition program, how they identify technologies from other federal agencies or the private sector, and how they incentivize private-sector development (including privacy-enhancing tech) and collaboration with universities, labs, and small or disadvantaged businesses.
- 4Privacy, civil rights, and AI safeguards: The plan requires assessment of impacts on privacy, civil rights, and safety, plus mitigation measures and alignment with DHS AI policies to promote responsible use.
- 5Evaluation, scaling, and oversight: The plan and teams must include security considerations, phase-out plans for legacy technology, cost estimates, and a path to scale successful technologies into programs of record; annual reporting to Congress with procedures, pilot results, and transition status.
- 6Pre-deployment analysis: The Secretary must conduct a cost-benefit analysis before large-scale deployment to ensure measurable improvements in border security.