State Border Security Reinforcement Fund

The State Border Security Reinforcement Fund is a federal grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The program is authorized under Public Law 119-21 and provides approximately $9.985 billion to reinforce border security through state-level projects selected through a competitive framework. Its primary goal is to enhance U.S. border security by supporting state and local initiatives that reduce unlawful entries, combat illicit drug flows, improve public safety, and strengthen coordination with federal border enforcement agencies. Projects must align with the DHS National Priority Area for Border Security and Immigration Enforcement and demonstrate coordination with agencies such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Funding supports four principal activity areas. These are construction or deployment of border walls, border barriers, or buoys along the southern border; ground preparation necessary for construction and maintenance of border barriers; detection and interdiction of illicit substances and unlawfully present aliens who have committed crimes under federal, state, or local law; and relocation of unlawfully present aliens from population centers to other domestic locations. The program includes both a forward-looking pathway for new activities and a retroactive pathway that may reimburse eligible, well-documented border security expenditures incurred from January 20, 2021 through the award date. Retroactive requests must include required reimbursement documentation with the application and remain subject to environmental, legal, and programmatic review. Weapons, ammunition, weapon accessories, real property purchases, unrelated decorative or recreational construction, unrelated housing, legal services, and surveillance, information technology, or communications equipment not directly tied to border security are among the identified unallowable costs. Indirect costs are not allowed. Management and administration costs are permitted up to 2 percent of an applicant award and up to 2 percent of a subaward when supported by actual costs or known contractual amounts and appropriate documentation. No cost share is required. Only State Administrative Agencies are eligible to apply directly to FEMA. For this opportunity, state includes the U.S. states but excludes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. State Administrative Agencies may solicit proposals and issue subawards to eligible local governments as defined by federal regulation. Subapplicants must demonstrate operational capacity and active coordination with federal border enforcement efforts and must satisfy applicable personnel and security requirements. Territories, Tribal Nations, nonprofit organizations, and private organizations are not eligible for direct awards or subawards. State Administrative Agencies review, prioritize, and consolidate eligible subapplicant proposals into a single statewide application. The person submitting an application and the Authorized Organization Representative must be a current authorized employee, official, or leader of the applicant organization, and consultants or contractors may not serve as the Authorized Organization Representative. Applications must be submitted through FEMA GO. Applicants must have a Unique Entity Identifier and Employer Identification Number, maintain an active System for Award Management registration, have a login.gov account, register the organization in FEMA GO, establish the Authorized Organization Representative, and submit the complete application through FEMA GO. Required application components include the SF-424, Certification Regarding Lobbying, applicable SF-424A or SF-424C budget forms, applicable SF-424B or SF-424D assurances, and SF-LLL. Applicants must also submit the SBSRF Application Worksheet as an Excel file and an Investment Justification for each program objective for which funding is requested. Applicants therefore submit between one and four Investment Justifications. Each justification addresses existing capability levels, identified gaps, and proposed activities and their alignment with program guidelines. Applicants seeking retroactive reimbursement must submit all required documentation for those costs when applying. Applicants likely to receive funding may be asked by email for additional information before award and must respond to continue through the review process. FEMA evaluates complete applications through state and federal review processes. The program uses a risk-informed methodology based on threat, vulnerability, and consequence, and applications are ranked according to their alignment with evaluation criteria and program priorities. Federal reviewers assess whether proposed activities are allowable, whether applicants possess the capacity to perform the activities, whether deliverables align with program objectives and priorities, whether timelines are realistic and fit the performance period, and whether costs are allowable, reasonable, and cost-effective. Applications are pre-scored and ranked, after which applications within a competitive range may receive technical review by subject matter experts from FEMA, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and other DHS components. Partial funding may be recommended. Following eligibility and technical review, funding recommendations are provided to the Secretary of Homeland Security, who makes final funding determinations. The application period opened June 4, 2026 at 3:00 P.M. Eastern Time and closes September 17, 2026 at 5:00 P.M. Eastern Time. There is no required pre-application, letter of intent, or whitepaper stage. Applicants experiencing FEMA GO system issues must notify FEMA by 3:00 P.M. Eastern Time on the application due date, and applications received after the final deadline will not be accepted. Funding selections are anticipated no earlier than October 15, 2026, and awards are anticipated no earlier than October 30, 2026. The period of performance runs from January 20, 2021 through September 30, 2034, and extensions are not allowed. Award recipients must accept their awards through FEMA GO within 60 days of the award date. Financial and performance reports are required quarterly, and final reporting is due within 120 calendar days after the end of the period of performance. For general program assistance, applicants may contact FEMA Grants News at fema-grants-news@fema.dhs.gov or 800-368-6498, Monday through Friday from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Eastern Time. Financial and budgetary technical assistance is available through the Grant Programs Directorate Award Administration Division at ASK-GMD@fema.dhs.gov. Environmental Planning and Historic Preservation questions may be directed to FEMA-OEHP-NOFOQuestions@fema.dhs.gov. FEMA GO technical assistance is available at femago@fema.dhs.gov or 877-585-3242, Monday through Friday from 9:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. Eastern Time. The NOFO does not state that the State Border Security Reinforcement Fund recurs annually or on another regular cycle, so no recurring future application cycle is assumed.

Focus requests exclusively on allowable SBSRF activities and clearly connect each Investment Justification to identified risks, capability gaps, program objectives, and federal border security priorities. Demonstrate capacity to perform each proposed activity and document coordination with relevant federal border enforcement agencies. Use realistic project timelines and substantiate costs as allowable, reasonable, and cost-effective. State Administrative Agencies should thoroughly review subapplicant eligibility and capacity before consolidating proposals. Retroactive reimbursement requests should include complete supporting documentation at the time of application.