Security First Act

This legislation, called the Security First Act, focuses on border security. It renews and boosts Operation Stonegarden grants for state, local, and tribal governments from 2025 through 2028. It authorizes $110 million each year for grants and at least $36.7 million each year for gear like radios, sensors, and drones. It also sets up a trust fund so that money equal to unreported cash and similar instruments seized at the U.S.–Mexico border goes to these grants without needing new yearly approval. Operation Stonegarden provides grants that help state, local, and tribal governments strengthen border security.

The bill also requires reports. Within 60 days, the Secretary of State must tell Congress whether certain groups—including the Jalisco New Generation, Sinaloa, Juarez, Tijuana, Gulf, and Los Zetas cartels, plus the Tren de Aragua gang—meet the rules to be named foreign terrorist organizations. DHS must deliver a one-year report on the technology needed to secure the Southwest border—covering tools like drones, surveillance towers, tunnel detection, and nonintrusive inspection devices—and then update that plan every two years for the next four years . DHS must also report on its hiring and recruiting from 2018–2024 and suggest ways to strengthen its workforce within 120 days.

Key points

• Who is affected: State, local, and tribal governments that receive Operation Stonegarden grants; the Department of Homeland Security; the Secretary of State .
• What changes: Multi-year grant funding and a new trust fund tied to seized, unreported monetary instruments; required reviews of possible terrorist designations; a border technology needs analysis with regular updates; a DHS hiring report with recommendations .
• When: FY2025–FY2028 for grants; 60 days after enactment for the cartel/terror review; 1 year for the tech needs analysis, then updates two years later and every two years for four more; 120 days for the hiring report .