The Border Weather Resiliency Act requires Customs and Border Protection to create a strategy to mitigate the impacts of extreme weather
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee approved Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s Border Weather Resiliency Act – legislation she introduced with Republican Senator John Cornyn (Texas) requiring Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to create a strategy to protect border security personnel and equipment from extreme weather, such as record-breaking heat waves. U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) are original cosponsors of the legislation.
“Our bill identifying real solutions to address and mitigate the risks of extreme heat impacting our Customs and Border Protection personnel and the equipment keeping Arizona safe and secure is one step closer to becoming law,” said Sinema, Chair of the Senate Border Management Subcommittee and member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
Sinema’s Border Weather Resiliency Act requires CBP to conduct an assessment and submit a strategy to mitigate the impacts of increasingly extreme and frequent weather on CBP personnel, infrastructure, technology, vehicles, and other assets – enhancing morale, agency effectiveness, and saving taxpayer dollars by bolstering infrastructure resilience.
Last year was the hottest on record, with Arizona seeing record temperatures during the summer months. Unlawful crossings have skyrocketed on both the northern and southern borders and CBP officers and U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) agents spend more time outside managing this influx in increasingly severe weather conditions – putting their health and safety at risk.
Additionally, extreme weather impacts agency technology, infrastructure, and other assets. In 2023, the U.S. experienced a record 28 separate weather disasters, each resulting in at least $1 billion in damages. A 2021 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that during the prior five years, the federal government spent billions of dollars to repair federal property damage resulting from natural disasters. While CBP has taken steps to respond to extreme weather, the agency does not currently have a unified strategy to address and mitigate non-heat-related extreme weather risks nor has it updated its manuals and protocols accordingly.