WASHINGTON D.C. (NMB) – Montana’s U.S. Senators, Republican Steve Daines and Democrat Jon Tester, joined eight other Senators in sending a bipartisan letter to the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Committee urging for them to provide U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) with the necessary resources to properly staff and secure the U.S.-Canada border in fiscal year 2023.
The letter states that CBP officials continue to be transferred from the northern border to the southern border, and this is taking a toll on those still assigned to the northern border.
The Senators also request investment in technology to help monitor the northern border.
Also in the letter, the Senators ask the Committee to provide CBP with necessary resources to allow northern border ports to return to pre-pandemic hours of operation.
These cutbacks are having an impact along the Hi-Line, as the Port of Wild Horse has not moved to its normal summer hours, and the Port of Chief Mountain remains closed.
The border between Montana and Canada stretches for 545 miles, and Tester’s office said in a press release that the economies of many border towns rely on Canadian trade and commerce.
