What more is it going to take to convince federal authorities to start taking the U.S.-Canadian border staffing shortage seriously?
They weren’t convinced two years ago when Ahmed Ressam almost slipped through the border with 130 pounds of explosives in the trunk of his car. The thorough work of a Port Angeles-based Border Patrol agent likely saved many lives — probably hundreds. Yet, within months of that near miss, the Immigration and Naturalization Service transferred agents and equipment from the Canadian border to the Mexican border — as though nothing had happened.
Now it’s starting to appear as though the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 aren’t even enough to set D.C. authorities’ brains in gear.
Right before Christmas, authorities yanked 21 agents from the northern border and reassigned them to the U.S-Mexican border — where else? — despite protests from their own regional officials and the widespread concerns about terrorists trying to sabotage New Year’s celebrations.
Early last month, the U.S. and Canada signed a border pact to increase security and coordinate immigration policies. Not only are the two countries supposed to share the FBI’s fingerprint image system information, but the U.S. was going to post some 600 National Guard troops at border posts.
"The United States and Canada have chosen to work together against terrorism, and North America is safer … as a result," Attorney General John Ashcroft said at the time.
Safer? Then the Bush administration must start acting the way it talks. Pushed by this state’s members, Congress has approved more agents, but hiring and training will take time. The National Guard troops have yet to be deployed anywhere in our border area. Border Patrol agents (working plenty of overtime) are to be praised for keeping us safe so far. Agents are out of their booths at border crossings checking vehicles and personal identifications.
Their work has certainly intensified the last several months (Canadian inspections appear more thorough too). How much longer can we expect our agents to keep up such long hours? All it takes is one terrorist to destroy many lives.
We had proof long before Sept. 11 that our northern border was vulnerable to terrorist attacks. But whenever staffing gets thin down south (actually, the southern border is much more beefed up), authorities skim from the northern patrol. We might as well send out a press release to terrorists.
The Clinton administration woefully neglected the northern border. The current administration cannot afford to do the same.
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