This part sets aside $3,450,000,000 for the border force. It pays for gear and tools, and it lists six uses for the money. It bars the money from paying for watch towers that have not passed a test. It ends by saying what one word means here.
The document says “shall”Who acts: Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border ProtectionHow: statuteSec. 103 in the PDF
What the document says
“there is appropriated to the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection for fiscal year 2026, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to remain available until September 30, 2029, $3,450,000,000 for the following:”
Subsection (a) appropriates $3,450,000,000 to the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection for fiscal year 2026, in addition to amounts otherwise available. The money remains available until September 30, 2029. Six numbered purposes follow, and the subsection sets no separate amount for any one of them.
What the document actually says
“there is appropriated to the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection for fiscal year 2026, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to remain available until September 30, 2029, $3,450,000,000 for the following:”
That sentence, in plain words
Congress sets aside $3,450,000,000 for the head of the border force. It may be spent up to September 30, 2029. Six uses for it come next.
What this is about
The law does not split the sum six ways. It gives one pot and one list. The head of the border force decides how much goes where.
No action is recorded against this proposal. That is not evidence that none has been taken, and nobody has yet read it against the record. See what the tracker does not yet cover.
The document says “shall”Who acts: Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border ProtectionHow: statuteSec. 103 in the PDF
What the document says
“(1) Procurement and integration of new nonintrusive inspection equipment and associated civil works, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other innovative technologies, as well as other mission support, to combat the entry or exit of illicit narcotics at ports of entry and along the southwest, northern, and maritime borders.”
The first listed purpose. It covers buying and integrating new nonintrusive inspection equipment and the civil works that go with it, naming artificial intelligence, machine learning and other innovative technologies, along with other mission support. The stated aim is to combat the entry or exit of illicit narcotics at ports of entry and along the southwest, northern and maritime borders.
What the document actually says
“(1) Procurement and integration of new nonintrusive inspection equipment and associated civil works, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other innovative technologies, as well as other mission support, to combat the entry or exit of illicit narcotics at ports of entry and along the southwest, northern, and maritime borders.”
That sentence, in plain words
The money buys new gear that can see inside a truck without opening it. It also pays for the building work that gear needs. The aim is to stop drugs going in or out.
What this is about
A port of entry is a place where people cross into the country. The gear scans what comes through. The law says the gear may use smart software to read what it sees.
No action is recorded against this proposal. That is not evidence that none has been taken, and nobody has yet read it against the record. See what the tracker does not yet cover.
The document says “shall”Who acts: Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border ProtectionHow: statuteSec. 103 in the PDF
What the document says
“(2) Air and Marine operations' upgrading and procurement of new platforms for rapid air and marine response capabilities. (3) Upgrades and procurement of border surveillance technologies along the southwest, northern, and maritime borders.”
The second and third listed purposes. Paragraph (2) covers Air and Marine Operations upgrading and buying new platforms for rapid air and marine response. Paragraph (3) covers upgrades to, and purchases of, border surveillance technologies along the southwest, northern and maritime borders.
What the document actually says
“(2) Air and Marine operations' upgrading and procurement of new platforms for rapid air and marine response capabilities. (3) Upgrades and procurement of border surveillance technologies along the southwest, northern, and maritime borders.”
That sentence, in plain words
The money buys new planes and boats, and makes the old ones better. It also pays for tools that watch the border and for better ones.
What this is about
These two uses cover three borders. One runs along Mexico. One runs along Canada. The third is the coast and the water beyond it.
No action is recorded against this proposal. That is not evidence that none has been taken, and nobody has yet read it against the record. See what the tracker does not yet cover.
The document says “shall”Who acts: Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border ProtectionHow: statuteSec. 103 in the PDF
What the document says
“(4) Necessary expenses, including the deployment of technology, relating to the biometric entry and exit system under section 7208 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (8 U.S.C. 1365b).”
The fourth listed purpose. It covers necessary expenses, including the deployment of technology, relating to the biometric entry and exit system provided for by section 7208 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (8 U.S.C. 1365b). That older Act is not indexed here, so what it requires of the system is not recorded.
What the document actually says
“(4) Necessary expenses, including the deployment of technology, relating to the biometric entry and exit system under section 7208 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (8 U.S.C. 1365b).”
That sentence, in plain words
The money pays the costs of one system, and puts its gear in place. The system checks people as they come in and go out.
What this is about
The system checks a body trait, such as a face or a print. An older law set it up. This law only pays for it.
No action is recorded against this proposal. That is not evidence that none has been taken, and nobody has yet read it against the record. See what the tracker does not yet cover.
The document says “shall”Who acts: Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border ProtectionHow: statuteSec. 103 in the PDF
What the document says
“(5) Enhancing border security by combating drug trafficking, including fentanyl and its precursor chemicals, at the southwest, northern, and maritime borders. (6) Necessary expenses for U.S. Customs and Border Protection's mission support and operations and maintenance for functions other than those related to its immigration enforcement and customs missions.”
The fifth and sixth listed purposes. Paragraph (5) covers enhancing border security by combating drug trafficking at the southwest, northern and maritime borders, and names fentanyl and its precursor chemicals. Paragraph (6) covers necessary expenses for mission support and for operations and maintenance, confined to functions other than those related to the immigration enforcement and customs missions of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
What the document actually says
“(5) Enhancing border security by combating drug trafficking, including fentanyl and its precursor chemicals, at the southwest, northern, and maritime borders. (6) Necessary expenses for U.S. Customs and Border Protection's mission support and operations and maintenance for functions other than those related to its immigration enforcement and customs missions.”
That sentence, in plain words
The money is used to fight the drug trade at the three borders. It names one drug and the stuff used to make it. It also pays the running costs of the border force for other work.
What this is about
Fentanyl is a drug that can kill in a small dose. A precursor is a chemical used to make it. The last use on the list is the plain cost of keeping the force running.
No action is recorded against this proposal. That is not evidence that none has been taken, and nobody has yet read it against the record. See what the tracker does not yet cover.
The document says “may not”Who acts: Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border ProtectionHow: statuteSec. 103 in the PDF
What the document says
“None of the funds made available under subsection (a) may be used for the procurement or deployment of surveillance towers along the southwest border and northern border that have not been tested and accepted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to deliver autonomous capabilities.”
Subsection (b) bars the money in subsection (a) from being used to buy or deploy surveillance towers along the southwest border and the northern border unless U.S. Customs and Border Protection has tested and accepted them to deliver autonomous capabilities. The word autonomous is defined in subsection (c).
What the document actually says
“None of the funds made available under subsection (a) may be used for the procurement or deployment of surveillance towers along the southwest border and northern border that have not been tested and accepted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to deliver autonomous capabilities.”
That sentence, in plain words
This money may not buy or set up watch towers on two of the borders. That bar lifts once the border force has tested a tower and taken it. The test is whether it can work on its own.
What this is about
A watch tower stands and looks out over the land. The next part of this law says what working on its own means. Towers that have not passed the test cannot be bought with this money.
No action is recorded against this proposal. That is not evidence that none has been taken, and nobody has yet read it against the record. See what the tracker does not yet cover.
“the term ``autonomous'' means a system designed to apply artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer vision, or other algorithms to accurately detect, identify, classify, and track items of interest in real time such that the system can make operational adjustments without the active engagement of personnel or continuous human command or control.”
Subsection (c) defines autonomous, with respect to capabilities, for the purposes of this section. The definition requires a system designed to apply artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer vision or other algorithms, to detect, identify, classify and track items of interest accurately and in real time, and to make operational adjustments without the active engagement of personnel or continuous human command or control.
What the document actually says
“the term ``autonomous'' means a system designed to apply artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer vision, or other algorithms to accurately detect, identify, classify, and track items of interest in real time such that the system can make operational adjustments without the active engagement of personnel or continuous human command or control.”
That sentence, in plain words
A system works on its own when it uses smart software to spot things and follow them as they move. It must be able to change what it does with no one telling it to.
What this is about
The word only has this meaning inside this part of the law. It is the test a watch tower has to pass. A tower that needs a person watching it does not meet it.
No action is recorded against this proposal. That is not evidence that none has been taken, and nobody has yet read it against the record. See what the tracker does not yet cover.
Secure America Act, Public Law 119-98, sec. 103, 140 Stat. 838 (2026). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-119publ98/html/PLAW-119publ98.htm
This page
“Border Security, Technology, and Screening,” Secure America Act, section 103. Read the Mandate, https://readthemandate.org/secure-america-act/section-103/ (retrieved August 26, 2026).
Cite the document when the claim is about what the document says. Cite this page when the indexing, the wording or the record of what has happened is what is being relied on.
What This Page Covers, and What It Leaves Out
The appropriation in subsection (a), each of the six purposes it lists, the restriction in subsection (b), and the definition in subsection (c).
Nothing in the section is left out. All three subsections and all six numbered purposes are recorded.
Paragraph (4) cites section 7208 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (8 U.S.C. 1365b), which is not indexed here, so nothing recorded says what that section requires. The section amends no older statute.
