www.thecentersquare.com – By Liam Hibbert | The Center Square contributor – (The Center Square – ) 2025-02-21 18:45:00
(The Center Square) – A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has introduced a bill to use image technicians to ebb the flow of drugs smuggled into the United States from the southern border.
The Border Enforcement, Security and Trade Facilitation Act of 2025 comes amid increased conversation around border security in President Donald Trump’s second term, and in response to high-profile drug busts on the southern border. It would create technician jobs in border security for five years, but with no clear plan for the future.
The bill is sponsored by U.S. Sens. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona; James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, and John Cornyn, R-Texas.
“Customs and Border Protection needs more trained personnel to stop illegal drugs, weapons and human smuggling from entering our country,” Kelly said in a statement this week. “By adding image technicians to identify threats at ports of entry, we’re giving law enforcement another essential tool to secure the border while keeping trade flowing.”
It is unclear exactly what impact the technology would have on smuggling of drugs or other illicit goods. The bill also left out the program’s cost. Kelly’s press office did not respond to a request for comment from The Center Square on either of these issues.
Nearly 1,000 pounds of fentanyl – the drug that has become the center point of the substance abuse issue in the U.S. in recent years – was seized along the southwestern border in January 2025. It was the month’s lowest tally since 2022.
“Adding more personnel at ports of entry will immediately provide our country with another layer of security to prevent traffickers from smuggling weapons or drugs across the border,” said Lankford. “Border law enforcement has repeatedly asked for more support to analyze cargo images in real time, so this bill also gives them tools they need to catch criminals and secure our border.”
The program would run for five years, starting from when the bill is passed. No details have yet come out about next steps for the program or the image technicians it would employ.
SUMMARY: An 18-year-old woman, Lyric Lewis, was fatally shot behind Harkins Theater in Bricktown. Police arrested 32-year-old Devon Stallings, who fired into a crowd before fleeing in a red pickup truck belonging to his parents. Witnesses say Stallings ran toward the group and fired shots. Lewis was taken to the hospital but died from her injuries. Authorities believe Lewis may not have been the intended target. Stallings has a criminal history, including a 2011 armed robbery conviction and a dismissed 2022 protective order. Police continue investigating the motives and urge the public to provide information.
Arrest made in deadly Bricktown shooting
Stay informed about Oklahoma news and weather! Follow KFOR News 4 on our website and social channels.
SUMMARY: The LOFT report reveals massive mismanagement at the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services under former Commissioner Ali Friesen. Investigations found the department underestimated Medicaid costs, overspent on pet projects like an $18 million Super Bowl commercial and a half-million-dollar Hip-Hop Nutcracker movie, and misused millions meant for child crisis care and social services grants. Executive salaries nearly doubled, and funds were shifted across budgets to cover overruns. The new law prohibits such malfeasance, potentially leading to criminal charges. Critics blame Governor Kevin Stitt for failing to remove Friesen despite worsening financial issues.
LOFT report uncovers what led to multi-million dollar budget shortfall
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A bipartisan group of lawmakers is working to make permanent the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), which provides USDA food boxes to low-income Native American households. Established as a pilot in 2018, the program served about 50,000 people by 2023 and offers an alternative to SNAP with healthier food options. Legislation introduced by Rep. Sharice Davids aims to allow federally recognized tribes to administer the program themselves, increasing tribal self-determination. Despite uncertainty about support from Republican House leadership, the program addresses serious food insecurity issues on reservations and will be part of upcoming farm bill discussions.
by Em Luetkemeyer, Oklahoma Watch July 4, 2025
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing to give low-income households on Native American reservations easier access to healthier food by making a food program established during the first Trump administration permanent.
The chances of the bill getting across the finish line are unclear. The lawmakers would need the backing of Republican House leadership for it to get a floor vote, and it’s at odds with much of the Trump administration’s priorities to cut federal funding.
But the lack of availability of healthy food on reservations is a rare issue that is of at least some concern to both parties.
“As my old committee colleagues know, I work on all sides of the aisle with every open-minded variety,” Rep. Frank Lucas, one of the co-sponsors of the bill, said as he squeezed into an elevator full of lawmakers when asked about bipartisan work on tribal affairs.
The Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations provides a box of food from the U.S. Department of Agriculture each month to income-eligible households on reservations. It began as a pilot program with the Cherokee and Chickasaw nations in the 2018 farm bill, and about 50,000 individuals were using the program monthly by 2023. The USDA describes the program as an alternative to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that allows participants to choose from fruits, vegetables, proteins, cooking essentials and more.
After seeing its success, lawmakers are hoping to use the legislation introduced by Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids to make the program permanent. Any federally recognized tribe that participates in the program could administer the program itself.
“I would call it an overarching effort to make sure that tribes can have more self-determination,” Davids, who represents a competitive district in Kansas, said. “It’s a really good way to make sure that these resources get straight to tribal governments, so that they can then, as effectively as possible, get this nutritional food out to their communities.”
Davids, a Ho-Chunk Nation citizen, has lived and worked on a reservation, where access to grocery stores — let alone healthy foods and produce — can be scarce. She said this act is “a really good way for everyone to remember that these aren’t just statistics.”
“I lived in a place where it would take 45 minutes to get to a very small grocery store, and 90 minutes to get to what I think a lot of people might consider like a regular-sized grocery store,” Davids said.
Food insecurity is significantly greater for Native American and Alaska Native households than all U.S. households, according to a 2024 report from the Government Accountability Office.
Ben Goldey, communications director for the House Committee on Agriculture, said in a written statement that the program would be part of upcoming farm bill negotiations.
“This is very similar to something that was part of the bipartisan farm bill that passed out of Committee last year, but ultimately did not make it across the finish line,” Goldey said.
“The One Big Beautiful Bill that just passed includes many of the farm bill programs that could pass through reconciliation, however many critical programs remain,” Goldey said, in reference to the reconciliation bill Congress passed this week. “As we turn our focus to what Chairman Thompson is calling Farm Bill 2.0 … this will be part of those discussions.”
The offices of Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise did not respond to Oklahoma Watch’s requests for comment.
Tribal leaders praised the pilot version of the program at a field hearing with members of Congress in April but said they wanted more agency over buying and distributing the food.
“The addition of the self-determination-type program, where we can purchase certain foods ourselves, is certainly something we welcome, and it has proven to be a very good change,” Gov. Bill Anoatubby of the Chickasaw Nation said in the hearing.
Oklahoma is home to nearly 40 federally recognized tribes and would be one of the states that stand to benefit the most if the bill were passed.
“It worked spectacularly successful,” Lucas said of the program. “So we’re trying to make sure that opportunity is available for the other 500-some tribes.”
Rep. Tom Cole, a Chickasaw Nation member who, like Lucas, is a Republican, signed on as another co-sponsor of this act last week.
“A lot of [reservations] are food deserts, and the population is scattered and isolated — very, very rural,” Cole said. “There’s not the consumer base in many cases that you need to get the food diversity that, honestly, every American ought to have access to.”
Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
The article presents a balanced and factual overview of bipartisan efforts to improve access to healthy food on Native American reservations. It highlights cooperation between Democratic and Republican lawmakers, quoting representatives from both parties without favoring one side. The language is neutral and focuses on the policy’s merits and challenges, avoiding partisan framing. The coverage of the topic respects tribal perspectives and policy details without editorializing, reflecting an objective tone typical of centrist reporting.
