Security Beat ARTICLE

March 2005

U.S.-Canadian Border Crossings to Tighten Security

by Joe Pappalardo

The bridges and border control stations on the U.S.-Canada border are undergoing strategic overhauls, not only to increase security but also to ensure rapid throughput of commercial traffic, leaders from both nations recently announced.

Then-U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge and Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan released a status report of border control efforts, including strategies for moving screening operations onto the land from which travelers leave to avoid bottlenecks on bridges. Pilot programs involving these operations, called pre-clearance, are being set up, although the exact look is under negotiation, DHS officials said.

Plans include the re-location of all U.S. border operations for both commercial and passenger traffic from Buffalo to Fort Erie. At another location, yet to be decided, all Canadian operations will move to the U.S. side of the border. Possible sites include the Thousand Islands Bridge or the crossing between Queenston and Lewiston, near Niagara Falls.

The two governments are exploring the feasibility of creating integrated border enforcement teams to support pre-clearance activities.

Officials also announced the decision to expand U.S. pre-clearance facilities at Halifax International Airport in Nova Scotia, as soon as the construction of the necessary infrastructure is completed.

Canadian officials also pledged to improve operations at the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel that was used by more than 13.4 million cars and 1.8 million commercial vehicles in 2003 and 2004. McLellan said bridge, tunnel and ferry operators committed to the Canadian government’s pledge to reduce transit times at the border stations on the bridgeheads by 25 percent over the course of the year by adding staff. “Hiring more officers demonstrates the government of Canada’s commitment to reducing border wait times,” McLellan said.

The two officials also announced an expansion of the Free and Secure Trade program to seven new high volume commercial crossings along the land border, which aims to streamline and integrate efforts across the U.S.-Canadian border. FAST participants are pre-authorized and can take advantage of dedicated lanes at crossings.

Report Warns of Influence Peddling Over DHS
The jumble of congressional committees with oversight of the Department of Homeland Security is more than an inconvenience to those called to testify. It opens the door to undue influence from lobbyists and government contractors, according to a panel that was chaired by two veterans of Capitol Hill.

“The current situation poses a clear and demonstrable risk to our national security,” the report stated.

Former Speaker of the House Thomas Foley and former New Hampshire Sen. Warren Rudman co-chaired a task force on DHS oversight for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Their report, titled “Untangling the Web”, asserted that Congress has “failed to remove a major impediment to effective homeland security” by maintaining too many politicians who have no expertise in the overall strategy, and who are stretched across a multitude of committees and subcommittees.

“This fragmentation also creates the conditions for mid-level subordinates to end-run the leadership of DHS and appeal directly to congressional committees with which they have long-standing relationships,” the report said. “It allows outside interest groups, single-issue lobbies and government contractors to more easily find champions for parochial interests and pork barrel projects that fall outside the strategic mandate and intent of DHS.”

The effort to simplify oversight is lagging behind the attempt to streamline homeland security operations that was envisioned when DHS was created. Currently, 79 committees and subcommittees in the House and Senate have responsibility for DHS operations. This compares to the 88 that had oversight before DHS consolidated operations.

The Defense Department enjoys a budget 10 times greater than DHS, but faces 36 committees and subcommittees on Capitol Hill.

The report recommends a major overhaul of legislative oversight. For subcommittees, the report suggests sticking with DHS’s core mission sectors: intelligence, border and transportation security, domestic counter terrorism, critical infrastructure, defending against catastrophic threats and emergency preparedness.

These committees would be stocked with “small, expert cadres of members who can exercise oversight and craft legislation taking into account the full spectrum of homeland security requirements—not simply one narrow element.”

Border Patrol: Biometric System Nets Criminals
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents identified and arrested 23,502 individuals with criminal records nationwide with the aid of the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System from September 2004 to November 2004.

IAFIS is a biometric identification technology enabling border patrol agents to search its automated biometric identification system and the FBI’s criminal fingerprint database simultaneously. This allows border patrol agents to rapidly identify individuals with outstanding warrants and criminal histories by electronically comparing a live-scanned 10-fingerprint entry against a comprehensive national database of previously captured fingerprints.

More land borders are receiving biometric screening. These new biometric procedures now are operating at the 50 busiest land ports, and DHS officials said that they also save visitors’ time while crossing the border.

The biometric screens, contained as part of the US-VISIT program, involves the collection of two index finger scans and a digital photograph. Visitors no longer are required to fill out the forms by hand. All biographic information is entered electronically when the customs and border patrol officers scan the visitor’s documents.

DHS officials said the U.S. was able to arrest or deny admission to 372 criminals or immigration violators because of the biometric information that was supplied through the US-VISIT system. These included federal penitentiary escapees, convicted rapists, drug traffickers, persons convicted of manslaughter, credit card scammers, a convicted armed robber and numerous immigration violators, according to DHS. The program is operational at 115 airports and 15 seaports, and is expected to be expanded to all land ports of entry by December 31, 2005.

Booming Market for Security-Cleared Employees
Workers with U.S. security clearances are in high demand, and a backlog in security clearance processing is making them even more valuable.

Correspondingly, Internet-based job boards, which are tailored specifically for security cleared-candidates, are booming. Posted jobs range from electricians to network engineers and program managers. Positions are located at every country with a U.S. military presence, including the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan.

It can take up to two years for an individual to receive a security clearance. The number of candidates awaiting clearances was recently recorded at more than 400,000. Responsibility for clearance investigations recently has been handed from the Defense Security Service to the Office of Personnel Management in an effort to reduce this backlog.

Rachel Staras, co-founder of ClearanceJobs.com, said the number of active job postings is up more than 200 percent from last year.

Although information technology positions dominate the openings, she said companies would seek a greater variety of skills, including logistics professionals, linguists and subject matter experts.

“New Department of Defense contracts are being won by information technology, engineering, and security and defense firms on a weekly basis,” Staras noted. “The vast majority of these jobs require candidates to have a clearance already in place.”

She added that defense industry continues to create new jobs with increased salaries and is experiencing fewer outplacements than most other labor markets.

Mexico Prints Guide for Undocumented Workers
The Mexican Foreign Ministry has published a guide to aid illegal border crossers, raising eyebrows among immigration officials and activists at a time immigration reform is gaining Beltway attention.

The 32-page book, “The Guide for the Mexican Migrant,” contains a primer of their legal rights, safety information and advice on how to live under the radar of immigration authorities once they reach the United States, the Arizona Republic first reported. The book is included for no charge in popular graphic comic books published across Mexico.

Immigration will likely be one of year’s hot political debates, as the Executive Branch pushes for reform. President George W. Bush is advocating a change in business to concentrate on violent offenders rather than illegal immigrants seeking work. “As a nation that values immigration and depends on immigration, we should have immigration laws that work and make us proud,” Bush said, as he announced his intention to push for reforms in 2005.

The changes he suggested would overhaul the nation’s immigration laws and allow some eight million illegal immigrants to obtain legal status as temporary workers. He also urged Congress to increase the current annual limit of 140,000 green cards.

Under the reforms, illegal workers in the United States would be able to join a temporary labor program. These workers receive a temporary three-year visa, renewable once. They are expected to return to their countries once their visas expire. DHS would administer the program.

Bush also cited security concerns as a motivator for change. “Our homeland will be more secure when we can better account for those who enter our country,” he said. “Instead of the current situation, in which millions of people are unknown ... law enforcement will face few problems with undocumented workers and will be better able to focus on the true threats to our nation from criminals and terrorists.”

Asa Hutchinson’s Departure Blamed on ‘Burnout’
Department of Homeland Security staffers disputed news reports that Asa Hutchinson’s decision to quit his post as DHS undersecretary as was based on being passed over for the top position at the agency.

Rather, they maintained that the position—deep within one the largest reorganizations of the federal government in history—lends itself to burnout. “I’m amazed Secretary Ridge and Undersecretary Hutchinson were able to move at this pace for so long,” said one DHS staffer. “It takes a toll.”

However, the staffer acknowledged that being called on to serve as DHS secretary would have been a tough request to turn down. Even Hutchinson’s letter of resignation contains a hint that he’d be open to another round as a fed: “I trust there will be continued opportunities for service and that you will not hesitate to call me if I can be of assistance to our nation in the future.”

Hutchinson’s next may run at the governor’s mansion in Arkansas, but there’s even money that he will work in the private sector, sources told National Defense. “He’s been bombarded with requests.”

Hutchinson retired from the administration after serving nearly four years as the head of the Drug Enforcement Agency and, later, as undersecretary for border and transportation security at DHS. During that time, President George W. Bush nicknamed him “Ace.”

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