US border security
...ized crime or in human or international rights abuses, and people who pose a security threat from taking advantage of Canada’s immigration program (7). The CBSA main responsibility is managing, controlling and securing Canada’s borders. The CBSA as a workforce of approximately 12,000 servants, and provides services at approximately 1,200 points across Canada and 39 locations abroad (7). They administer more than 90 acts and regulations on behalf of other federal departments and agencies, and international agreements (7). The CBSA and private industry have combined efforts to enhance border security by developing the Partners in Protection program (5). Under this program, the CBSA has developed strategic partnerships with private industry to secure the flow of low-risk, legitimate goods and travelers across our border. Canada’s Immigration Act which was enacted in 1976 and amended over thirty times, allowed on average 200,000 immigrants per year from diverse backgrounds (1). But in November 2001, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act was passed by Parliament and became law on June 28, 2002 (1). The most important objectives to this Act in respect to immigration are to permit Canada to pursue the maximum social, cultural and economic benefits of immigration and to support the development of a strong and prosperous Canadian economy, in which the benefits of immigration are shared across all regions of Canada (1). The CBSA and the following agencies enforce guidelines in this act at the borders. The Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET), developed in 1996, is a multi-agency law enforcement team that emphasizes a harmonized approach to Canadian efforts to target cross-border criminal activity (10). The original core agencies from Canada and the U.S. which have a direct interest in IBET’s are: the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, The Canada Border Services Agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Coast Guard. The reality of terrorism and the need to enhance border integrity has heightened the IBET’s importance. Their main goal is to help protect Canada and the United States from potential threats of terrorism, and to impede smuggling of drugs, humans, contraband cigarettes, or other illegal substances (10). Enforcement activities are also provided by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. It was established in 1994 to link immigration services with citizenship registration, to promote the unique ideals all Canadians share and to help build a stronger Canada (1). The Department admits immigrants, foreign students, visitors and temporary workers who enhance Canada’s social and economic growth; resettles, protects and provides a safe haven for refugees; helps newcomers adapt to Canadian society and become Canadian citizens; and manages access to Canada to protect the security and health of Canadians and the integrity of Canadian laws (1). On July 4th, 1776 our Founding Fathers declared our country independent from England. The eighteenth reason for our separation from England was the King’s refusal to provide the people of America with safe frontiers. As early as 1904, the U.S. Immigration Service assigned a token force of mounted inspectors to patrol the border to prevent illegal crossings. The officers were untrained and few in numbers, and authorities were unable to stem the tide of illegal aliens crossing U.S. borders. The attacks on the World Trade Centers and the pentagon were not the first attacks on mainland America. In 1916, in a little town called Columbus (on the Texas/Mexico border), innocent American men, women and children were slowly and knowingly slaughtered. Pancho Villa and 1,000 of his marauding bandits came out of the desert wastes of Mexico, burned buildings and shot everyone they saw dead. Villa escaped back into Mexico, and America awoke. It was that attack on America in 1916 that caused us to form a small band of brothers called the United States Border Patrol. On May 28, 1924, Congress established the United States Border Patrol as part of the Immigration Bureau, an arm of the Department of Labor (6). After the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001, President Bush established the Department of Homeland Security. During the creation of the new Department, the U.S. Border Patrol, along with the legacy-INS division, the legacy-U.S. Customs inspection division, and the Department of Agriculture’s plant and animal inspection service were merged into a new agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) (4). While the traditional mission of the Border Patrol has always been the detection and prevention of the illegal entry of aliens and smuggling of illegal contraband into the United States anywhere other than a designated port-of-entry, the dawn of the new age of terrorism with our nation added a new priority mission: to detect and prevent the entry of terrorists and their weapons into the United States. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection is a single agency responsible for protecting the sovereign border of the U.S. at and between the official ports of entry (4). The Border Patrol is a branch within the CBP. The Border Patrol works to prevent the illegal entry into the U.S. of persons and contraband. The Border Patrol is responsible for controlling all of America’s 7,500 mile of land borders between ports of entry, and 95,000 miles of maritime border in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard (6). The northern border with Canada presents unique challenges. The Border Patrol recognizes that the geographical distinctions along the northern border yield a much greater vulnerabilit...