U.S. officials criticize their own border security
Canadian Press
Oct. 3, 2001. 06:17 PM
Traffic cones sometimes the only guards at U.S. checkpoints
WASHINGTON (CP) — A humble orange
rubber traffic cone is often the only sentry
standing guard between terrorists in Canada and
the United States, the U.S. Congress heard
Wednesday.
Senator Byron Dorgan said a solitary traffic
blocker is the only nighttime security used at 15
of the 18 border checkpoints in his home state
of North Dakota.
In total, 62 of the 113 ports of entry between
Canada and the United States are unstaffed by
U.S. Customs or immigration authorities
overnight.
"It is certainly not a secret to terrorists that if
they are going to try to get through a border in
this country, it would be much easier to get
through a border that's only protected by an orange rubber cone at 11
o'clock at night than going through a border where you have rigorous
inspection," Dorgan, a Democrat, told U.S. authorities during a congressional
hearing on the Canada-U.S. border.
"They can drive through it or drive around it."
There is still no evidence that any of the terrorists involved in the Sept. 11
airliner assaults entered the United States from Canada.
That has not prevented the growing impression in the United States that the
northern border is a porous frontier that terrorists playfully skip across.
"Evidence suggests that several of the terrorists involved in the September 11
attacks used the northern border to gain access to the United States,"
Washington Senator Patty Murray told the hearing in a written submission.
Asked later what evidence she had based her claim on, the Democratic
senator said, "News reports."
Canadian officials, who have been briefed by the U.S. Justice Department,
said there is no evidence that any of the 19 terrorists involved in the Sept. 11
suicide missions entered the United States from Canada.
James Ziglar, the commissioner for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization
Service, refused to answer questions about any possible Canadian
connection to the events of Sept. 11.
But during their joint appearance before the U.S. Senate sub-committee,
Ziglar and U.S. Customs Commissioner Robert Bonner had nothing but
praise for the work done by Canadian border authorities.
Ziglar said Canadian help was instrumental in helping the INS nab 4,000
illegal aliens along the northern border with only 965 staff. It took four times
as many inspectors to detain the same number of aliens along the
U.S.-Mexican frontier.
"And the reason for that in large part is because of the relationship we've got
with the Canadians in terms of intelligence sharing and other information
sharing," Ziglar said.
"They have been extremely helpful to us in our ability to detect and
apprehend criminal aliens on the northern border."
"We look to our trusted friend and partner, Canada, to assist us," Bonner
said.
But the heads of both services said without a substantial increase of money
for more officers and inspectors they cannot ensure the future security of the
U.S.-Canadian border.
"That degree of confidence will go down very rapidly if we don't get
additional resources," Ziglar said.
The Customs Service has temporarily moved 100 inspectors to northern
border posts, but inspectors are still being burned out by working 12-hour
days, seven days a week.
U.S. border authorities have been on a "level-one alert" — reserved for times
when a terrorist attack may be imminent — since Sept. 11.
Bonner told the special hearing that staff at all points of entry are likely to
remain on the highest level of alert "for the foreseeable future."
Some of a $20 billion US emergency aid fund that Congress approved after
the terrorist attacks could go toward northern border security. The Senate
also has approved an additional $25 million for the Customs Service to focus
on the Canadian border.
Dorgan called the funding, which still needs to be reconciled with differences
in the House version of the bill, "a down payment."
Neither commissioner offered an estimate of how much the changes would
cost.
"More co-ordination and more co-operation on both sides of the border" is
needed to ensure security, Ziglar said.
But he stressed that U.S. border must not become an undue hindrance for
commerce and trade.
"The one thing that troubles me that if we ever get to the point that we want
to build a wall on our borders, what we will do is we will destroy the
economies of our country, Canada and Mexico."
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