As the Department of Homeland Security takes a step back to properly develop a plan for this long-term project, it would strongly benefit from following several recommendations discussed throughout the report. These include reaching out to local communities, the states, a variety of businesses, both large and small, and other U.S. agencies in order to formulate a dynamic and strategic vision for the SBI program.
As a recent Western Washington University study on U.S.-Canadian border cooperation notes, alliances of local groups that have formed across border regions there “have proven to be vital ‘laboratories’ for trying out new programs and policies…Problem-solving and innovation have been possible because of the well-developed networks of relationships that have sprung up across sectors and borders over many years.” This model in the Pacific Northwest should be studied by DHS for us (with necessary adjustments) on our southern border, too.
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