U.S.-Canada Border Security Blueprint: “the next generation of integrated cross-border law enforcement”
(The Toronto Star – Tonda MacCharles)
The idea of building a fence along the U.S.-Canada border has been officially ditched.
Instead, the United States’ new Northern Border Strategy looks to rely on more virtual eyes in the sky, boots on the ground and greater integration with Canadian law enforcement.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano released Tuesday the new blueprint, the first department-wide strategy for American policy and operations at the northern border. The 20-page document foresees a far more fluid border – at least as far as law enforcement personnel and border guards go.
It says the U.S. will continue to rely on the “strategic deployment of technology” – radars, sensors, cameras posted on poles between ports of entry, drones in the sky, and vehicle scanners – as a “force multiplier” to deter and prevent terrorism and illicit activity on the border. It flags “the next generation of integrated cross-border law enforcement,” such as a planned permanent extension of the joint vessel patrol pilot program – known as Shiprider – in shared waterways; the planned introduction of similar joint land operations; and efforts underway to eventually share biometric information collected through each country’s immigration visa application system. Read more here.
Date: June 7, 2012
