Despite terror alert, border traffic flowing smoothly

BLAINE — Customs inspectors have been searching more vehicles at the Canadian border crossing here since the nation’s terror-attack warning was raised to its second-highest level, but officials say traffic is flowing smoothly amid the heightened security.

Even with a brisk flow of holiday shoppers and skiers heading to the mountains, the heightened security has not caused border traffic to back up much longer than usual, said Mike Milne, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Northwest region.

The longest wait in recent days has been an hour and 15 minutes, Milne said Tuesday.

That’s due in part to a post-Sept. 11 increase in inspectors, as well as greater use of nonintrusive technologies such as gamma ray scanners used to check the contents of trucks crossing the border, Milne said.

In addition to conducting more trunk and hood searches than usual, Milne said, inspectors are asking more people to show them identification. "We’re running more name checks of occupants in a car, not just the driver," Milne said.

Inspectors also are ordering 10 percent to 15 percent more vehicles to pull over to secondary search stations, though the majority get cleared at the first stop, Milne said.

Agents on the other side of the border also were conducting more searches, asking more detailed questions and reviewing documents more extensively, said Sharon Gill, a Canada Border Services Agency spokeswoman.

Blaine is the busiest U.S-Canada border crossing west of Detroit.

Joe Giuliano, assistant chief of U.S. Border Patrol at Blaine, said the orange alert has not prompted major changes in the way inspections are done.

"It certainly isn’t at the point where it was after 9-11 — not by a long shot," Giuliano said. "But it still is a moment-to-moment world, and things could change at a moment’s notice."

The border will be staffed with more inspectors than usual during the holidays, Milne said. So far, no one’s had to cancel any vacation time, but they know it’s an option.

"Everybody who signs on to the job knows that national security comes first," Giuliano said.

The Homeland Security Department raised the nation’s threat level to "Code Orange" on Sunday, meaning the risk of an attack is deemed high.

Some of the intelligence that led to the orange alert indicates that Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network, al-Qaida, is seeking again to use planes as weapons, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said.

The country’s alert level had stood at yellow, an elevated risk and in the middle of the five-color scale, since May. On Monday, Ridge said the change in the alert status was the result of information from "many sources," but said he could not be more specific.

An official speaking on condition of anonymity had said Sunday that some of the intercepted communications and other intelligence mentioned New York, Washington and unspecified cities on the West Coast. Authorities also are concerned about dams, bridges, nuclear plants, chemical facilities and other public works.