The Mexico-United States border, known as the Southwest Border (SWB), extends nearly 2,000 miles, is the tenth-longest border between two countries in the world, and is the most frequently crossed. Small, rural, and tribal law enforcement agencies located on the SWB face limited staffing and resources while also having to traverse a variety of terrains—from rural areas to deserts—in order to enforce immigration rules, prevent violent crime, and protect the safety of U.S. citizens.

The Bureau of Justice Assistance SWB Rural Law Enforcement Assistance Program is an innovative new initiative designed to provide resources to small, rural, and tribal law enforcement agencies along or near the SWB of the United States in order to support efforts to address precipitous increases of all types of crime, including human trafficking, sexual assaults, extortion, gang activity, murder, drug trafficking, and other forms of violent crime.

The purposes for the awards under this program are to:

• Improve agencies' investigative, intelligence, and/or interdiction capabilities.
• Enhance information sharing, including investigative and intelligence data sharing with other agencies.
• Enable agencies to participate in projects within the southern border states.
• Assist in projects/initiatives unique to an agency or its region.
• Improve dedicated communications capabilities.