Sponsors (9)
The bill increases federal border‑security and emergency response capacity on federal lands and clarifies interagency roles, but does so at the cost of greater environmental damage, higher taxpayer and agency costs, and expanded enforcement presence that raises civil‑liberties and local‑service burdens for communities and migrants.
Border communities and law enforcement will gain expanded federal operational capacity (more roads, surveillance/technology, and authority) that aims to deter illegal crossings and enable faster interdiction and response on federal lands.
People in remote border and rural areas (including migrants in distress) will benefit from faster emergency response and search‑and‑rescue because the bill requires maintenance of navigable roads, authorizes rescue operations, and improves access for responders.
Federal, state, and local agencies will have clearer roles, oversight, and interagency coordination for operations on covered federal lands, reducing jurisdictional delays and improving implementation clarity.
People who use or live near affected federal lands (rural communities, tribal residents, wildlife) face substantial environmental harm because the bill enables road, barrier, and surveillance construction and sustained motorized access that can degrade habitat, wilderness character, and cultural sites.
Immigrants, border residents, and recreation users will see increased enforcement presence, reduced public access, and heightened privacy/civil‑liberties risks as DHS authority, surveillance, and permanent infrastructure expand on federal lands.
Taxpayers and federal agencies will likely face higher costs from constructing and maintaining roads, barriers, surveillance systems, administrative requirements, and new reporting/mitigation efforts.
Based on analysis of 11 sections of legislative text.
Expands DHS access and border-security activities on federal lands that abut the northern and southern borders, bans federal-funded housing for undocumented migrants on those lands, and requires road building, inventories, fuels management, and reports.
Introduced October 2, 2025 by Mike Lee · Last progress October 2, 2025
Prohibits use of Federal funds to provide housing for people in the U.S. without lawful immigration status on Federal lands that border Canada or Mexico, while allowing custody/detention facilities. Requires Interior and Agriculture to inventory border lands, build and maintain navigable roads, install detection technology with DHS, and create a fuels-reduction program on those lands. The bill also expands DHS authority to operate in wilderness areas near the borders, limits Interior and Agriculture from restricting DHS operations in a 100-mile border zone, and orders multiple environmental and cost reports within one year.