Covering nearly 4,000 miles of land and water from Washington to Maine, the U.S.-Canadian border is the longest undefended border in the world. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in collaboration with other fed., state, local, tribal, and Canadian entities have the primary responsibility for security. The Sec. of Homeland Security is required to submit a report to Congress that addresses the vulnerabilities along the northern border, and provides recommendations and required resources to address them. This report examined: (1) the extent to which the DHS report to Congress is responsive to the legislative requirements; and (2) actions that may be necessary to address northern border vulnerabilities in addition to the actions addressed in the report.

Covering nearly 4,000 miles of land and water from Washington to Maine, the U.S.-Canadian border is the longest undefended border in the world. Various Department of Homeland Security (DHS) component agencies share responsibility for northern border security, primarily U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in collaboration with other federal, state, local, tribal, and Canadian entities. The Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Act of 2007 required the Secretary of Homeland Security to submit a report to Congress that addresses the vulnerabilities along the northern border, and provides recommendations and required resources to address them. The act also required GAO to review and comment on this report. In response to this mandate, GAO examined (1) the extent to which the DHS report to Congress is responsive to the legislative requirements and (2) actions that may be necessary to address northern border vulnerabilities in addition to the actions addressed in the report. To conduct this work, GAO reviewed DHS plans, reports, and other documents, and interviewed DHS officials.