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Montana politics, elections and legislative news

Tester Joins Bipartisan Group Working On Border Security Deal

Senator Jon Tester and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen.
Courtesy Sen. Jon Tester
Senator Jon Tester and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen.

Montana’s Democratic Senator Jon Tester is part of a bipartisan group of lawmakers trying to strike a new deal with the White House on border security.

Tester this week met with the Secretary of Homeland Security and a bipartisan group of lawmakers. He’s hoping to help push a border security plan through Congress as part of a long-term budget agreement.

The plan includes hiring hundreds of new border patrol agents, investing in new security technologies, and requiring immigration officials report to Congress when they monitor cell phone conservation along the border.

The White House says it wants a wall along the southern border, though in recent days, they’ve eased back from pushing for a massive, coast-to-coast wall.

Tester says he’s open to sections of a wall, but says there are places where a fence or radar could do a better job.

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