From Homeland Security NewsWire:
Border agents struggle with Canadian border
Published 10 March 2011
As more attention and resources are poured into the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. Border Patrol agents along the northern border have struggled with limited resources and manpower; the nearly 4,000 mile U.S.-Canada border is roughly twice as long as the southern border, yet there are only 2,200 agents posted along it compared to 18,000 agents in the south; Border Patrol agents in the north say they lack the resources to do the job; smuggling rings, especially drug traffickers, exploit the gaps in security along the northern border to ship large quantities of drugs to the United States
Much of U.S.-Canada border is wilderness // Source: tripadvisor.com
As more attention and resources are poured into the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. Border Patrol agents along the northern border have struggled with limited resources and manpower.
The nearly 4,000 mile U.S.-Canada border is roughly twice as long as the southern border, yet there are only 2,200 agents posted along it compared to 18,000 agents in the south.
Fox News reports that along the southern border there are roughly nine agents per mile compared to one agent for every two miles in the north. Chief Patrol Agent John Pfeifer, who manages a portion of the border in New York, says, “The Border Patrol can’t do the job alone up here.”
To help secure the border, agents in the north team up with a variety of local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies as the lands intersect several jurisdictions.
“We rely on those other agencies to help us secure the border,” Pfeifer said.
Smuggling rings, especially drug traffickers, exploit the gaps in security along the northern border to ship large quantities of drugs to the United States using speed boats and snow mobiles, often crossing through tribal lands.
According to the Department of Justice, as much as 20 percent of Canada’s strongest cannabis crop enters the United States through a ten mile stretch of border on the Saint Regis Mohawk Indian Reservation.
A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) confirmed these reports, as it found that only thirty-two miles along the northern border had “an acceptable level of security.”
Last year DHS spent nearly $3 billion to secure the northern border, making roughly 6,000 arrests and interdicting approximately 40,000 pounds of illegal drugs.
Senator Joe Lieberman (I – Connecticut) and Senator Susan Collins (R- Maine) are strong advocates for increasing security along the Canadian border.
In response to the GAO report released last month, Senator Collins, the ranking member on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said, “The most important finding is that the U.S. Border Patrol does not have the ability to detect illegal activity across approximately three-quarters of the northern border. The reality is that budgetary constraints are preventing the U.S. Border Patrol from having the kind of staffing needed on the northern border. DHS must continue to analyze the right mix of resources, ensuring there is effective use of personnel, technology, and international, state, and local agency partnerships that allow the border be open to our friends, but closed to those who would do us harm.”
Border agents struggle with Canadian border
Published 10 March 2011
As more attention and resources are poured into the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. Border Patrol agents along the northern border have struggled with limited resources and manpower; the nearly 4,000 mile U.S.-Canada border is roughly twice as long as the southern border, yet there are only 2,200 agents posted along it compared to 18,000 agents in the south; Border Patrol agents in the north say they lack the resources to do the job; smuggling rings, especially drug traffickers, exploit the gaps in security along the northern border to ship large quantities of drugs to the United States
Much of U.S.-Canada border is wilderness // Source: tripadvisor.com
As more attention and resources are poured into the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. Border Patrol agents along the northern border have struggled with limited resources and manpower.
The nearly 4,000 mile U.S.-Canada border is roughly twice as long as the southern border, yet there are only 2,200 agents posted along it compared to 18,000 agents in the south.
Fox News reports that along the southern border there are roughly nine agents per mile compared to one agent for every two miles in the north. Chief Patrol Agent John Pfeifer, who manages a portion of the border in New York, says, “The Border Patrol can’t do the job alone up here.”
To help secure the border, agents in the north team up with a variety of local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies as the lands intersect several jurisdictions.
“We rely on those other agencies to help us secure the border,” Pfeifer said.
Smuggling rings, especially drug traffickers, exploit the gaps in security along the northern border to ship large quantities of drugs to the United States using speed boats and snow mobiles, often crossing through tribal lands.
According to the Department of Justice, as much as 20 percent of Canada’s strongest cannabis crop enters the United States through a ten mile stretch of border on the Saint Regis Mohawk Indian Reservation.
A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) confirmed these reports, as it found that only thirty-two miles along the northern border had “an acceptable level of security.”
Last year DHS spent nearly $3 billion to secure the northern border, making roughly 6,000 arrests and interdicting approximately 40,000 pounds of illegal drugs.
Senator Joe Lieberman (I – Connecticut) and Senator Susan Collins (R- Maine) are strong advocates for increasing security along the Canadian border.
In response to the GAO report released last month, Senator Collins, the ranking member on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said, “The most important finding is that the U.S. Border Patrol does not have the ability to detect illegal activity across approximately three-quarters of the northern border. The reality is that budgetary constraints are preventing the U.S. Border Patrol from having the kind of staffing needed on the northern border. DHS must continue to analyze the right mix of resources, ensuring there is effective use of personnel, technology, and international, state, and local agency partnerships that allow the border be open to our friends, but closed to those who would do us harm.”
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