Emerging Innovative Border Technologies Act

The bill would direct the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through CBP's Commissioner and DHS's Science and Technology Directorate, to submit a plan to Congress within 180 days of enactment. The plan must cover goals and timelines for adopting emerging technologies such as AI, machine learning, automation, fiber-optic sensing, nanotechnology, hyperspectral and LIDAR sensors, and unmanned aerial systems. It must also assess which technologies used by other federal agencies CBP could adopt, identify existing procurement authorities, evaluate legacy programs that could be replaced, estimate associated costs, and assess the privacy and security impact of new technologies on border communities.

The bill would separately authorize CBP to maintain one or more Innovation Teams to research and adapt commercial technologies for border security use. Each team would be required to establish operating procedures, strategic goals, projected costs, and performance metrics. CBP would have to report to Congress on Innovation Team activities within 180 days of enactment and annually thereafter. The bill does not itself appropriate funds or mandate the adoption of any specific technology.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection and its workforce, the DHS Science and Technology Directorate, private-sector technology companies and small businesses that may be invited to develop or adapt technologies for CBP, university research centers, and communities along the U.S. border whose residents could be subject to new surveillance and sensing technologies.

If enacted, CBP would face a structured, congressionally visible process for modernizing its technology portfolio rather than pursuing ad hoc pilots. Border communities would gain a formal privacy-impact assessment. Private sector and small business technology developers would have a clearer pathway to engage with CBP on emerging tools. The annual reporting requirement gives Congress ongoing oversight of how Innovation Teams spend their time and which technologies advance.

CBP's Commissioner and the DHS Under Secretary for Science and Technology would jointly produce the plan within 180 days of enactment, covering the full list of required contents. CBP Innovation Teams would establish written operating procedures, planning documents, and performance metrics. Each year, CBP would report to the House and Senate Homeland Security committees on technologies piloted, which were deemed successful, capability gaps addressed, and the status of transitioning successful pilots into formal programs of record. No rulemaking trigger is specified; implementation flows through internal planning and congressional reporting cycles.