Tester Meets With President Trump to Talk Border Security

After Working Together to Pass Ten Bills into Law, Tester and Trump Aim to Boost Law Enforcement Resources Along Northern and Southern Border

(U.S. Senate)—U.S. Senator Jon Tester today met with President Donald Trump at the White House to discuss ways to strengthen Montana’s and America’s border security.

Trump invited Tester to the White House for a face-to-face discussion on border security provisions to be included in a government funding bill later this month. Trump has signed ten of Tester’s bills into law since taking office last year.

Tester is the Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, which sets funding levels for security and law enforcement along the northern and southern borders.

“The President and I agree we must strengthen our borders to keep out drugs and people who don’t follow our laws, but we have to use common sense and not waste a single penny,” Tester said after the meeting. “Despite asking for more money, this administration still hasn’t produced a long-term border security plan. I will keep working with the President to invest in more manpower and technology along our borders because we can’t waste taxpayer money on a wall that raises more questions than answers.”

Tester is pushing for a series of border security provisions to be included in a must-pass budget bill later this month. Tester’s specific border security provisions include:

• Hire additional border personnel for our northern and southern borders.
• Invest in new technologies, vehicles, roads, and facilities to better secure the borders.
• Require Border Patrol Agents to use fiber optic detection technology to better detect border crossings.
• Provide Operation Stonegarden grants to support local law enforcement in their efforts to secure our borders.
• Require Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to report the use of devices that monitor cell phone conversations along the border.
• Encourage the Department of Homeland Security to purchase protective gear and uniforms that are made in the U.S.

Tester has been critical of the administration’s proposed-but-not-detailed border wall, which will cost taxpayers as much as $25 million per mile.