Peters’ Provision Will Build on Funding He Secured to Create a Northern Border Mission Center to be Collocated with DHS Components Currently Operating at Selfridge Air National Guard Base
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A provision secured by U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) in the annual defense legislation to strengthen security at our Northern Border will soon be signed into law. The provision, based on Peters’ bipartisan Northern Border Coordination Act, expands the operations and duties of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Northern Border Mission Center. Peters secured $3 million in March to establish and operate this Center at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, where it is collocated with current DHS components. The Center, which DHS is already working to set up, will coordinate with state, local, and Tribal governments, and other key stakeholders, to ensure DHS and its operational components are able to fulfill their security mission at the Northern Border.
“The Northern Border Mission Center will play a critical role in the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to effectively secure our Northern Border, while ensuring that Michigan and Selfridge Air National Guard Base remain at the forefront of our national security,” said Senator Peters. “The Center will help train personnel and test new security technologies that will help our nation tackle a wide range of security threats, from illicit drug trafficking to the rise of illegal drone use along our Northern Border. In addition to the funding, I secured earlier this year to launch the Center, this provision will ensure that Michigan is getting the resources to address our unique homeland security needs alongside the Department of Homeland Security’s other critical national security missions.”
“The Northern Border Mission Center at Selfridge Air National Guard Base will be an epicenter where our service women and men, civilian personnel and public safety professionals will continue to protect our borders and our freedoms for years to come. Thank you, Senator Peters, for your continued work to establish and expand the Center’s important role at Selfridge to improve our Northern Border security,” said Mark Hackel, Macomb County Executive.
“This is great news. The Northern Border Mission Center at Selfridge Air National Guard Base will help meet the need for additional attention to boost national security at our Northern Border, and it will be an excellent addition to the various components at Selfridge. We applaud Senator Peters for his advocacy and diligence on the importance of the Northern Border in our nation’s defense. This important mission will be embraced by Selfridge and open our community to other opportunities for border security efforts,” said Candice S. Miller, the Macomb County Public Works commissioner and former member of Congress who is an honorary commander at Selfridge and member of the Air and Space Forces Civic Leaders Program.
Peters’ provision in the annual defense legislation requires DHS to establish and expand the duties of the Northern Border Mission Center, to be collocated with an existing U.S. Border Patrol sector headquarters, an Air and Marine Operations Branch, and a U.S. Coast Guard air station, and other existing DHS activities at Selfridge Air National Guard Base. The Center will support the implementation of the Northern Border Security Strategy, and any successor strategy.
The provision also requires the Center to serve as a training location for personnel, act as a testing ground for border security technology, and to support counter-unmanned aircraft systems along the Northern Border. The Center will support DHS’s ongoing border security work to address the evolving threats and challenges the Department faces, including the bi-directional flow of illicit drugs, like fentanyl, and other contraband, as well as human smuggling and trafficking. Transnational criminal organizations continually adapt their drug smuggling methods to evade U.S. law enforcement.
###
