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Patriot Games
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http://www.newsmax.com/us/Mexicans_Stroll_Unchecked/2007/11/20/50829.html
Mexicans Stroll Unchecked Through Border Ports
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
A video made during an investigation by the U.S. Government Accountability
Office shows a stream of Mexicans strolling through the border into the U.S.
as federal Custom and Border Patrol agents sit staring at "information on
computer screens."
On another of the videos recorded at eight entry points across the country,
an agent was reportedly waving aliens through the lane without "looking at
them, making verbal contact or inspecting travel documents."
According to testimony from Richard Stana, director of homeland security and
justice issues at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), these
incidents were not isolated.
"While Custom and Border Patrol Officers have had some success in
apprehending inadmissible aliens and other violators, the analyses indicate
that several thousand inadmissible aliens and other violators entered the
country at air and land ports in 2006," Stana said during a hearing of the
Senate federal workforce subcommittee last week.
The danger of such a lax policy is clear to Stana. "It is increasingly the
responsibility of the Customs and Border Patrol to counter the threats posed
by terrorists and others attempting to enter the country with fraudulent or
altered travel documents," he said.
The report states that managers at 19 of 21 field offices told the GAO that
staff shortages had prevented them from carrying out anti-terrorism
activities or hampered their use of radiation monitors and other
technologies to inspect cargo and travelers.
Although Customs and Border Patrol employs about 17,600 officers at U.S.
entry points, it has relied on overtime to keep shifts staffed at a number
of its airports, seaports, and border stations, including some that operate
around the clock. During the 2006 fiscal year, staffing shortages forced
officers to work 4.2 million hours of overtime.
The agency withheld data on staffing from the document, because it deemed
the information too sensitive for public release.
Greg Letiecq, president of the anti-illegal immigrant organization Help Save
Manassas in northern Virginia, said he believes the inability to secure even
entry ports poses grave dangers for national security.
"If it's so patently easy for just a common illegal alien looking for day
labor to walk in without any kind of inspection or investigation, it has to
be easy for an al Qaeda terrorist to do the same," Letiecq said.
Though the danger is easily recognized, officials find it difficult to agree
on how to improve security at these points. During Stana's testimony before
the subcommittee, he cited a general "lack of focus and failure to engage"
as important reasons why thousands of illegal aliens slip under agents'
noses each year.
Paul Morris, executive director for admissibility and passenger programs at
the patrol's Office of Field Operations, said the primary problem was the
state of the agency's facilities.
"We are challenged by the continually expanding demand for our services," he
said. "We have developed and implemented a comprehensive training
curriculum. Expanded responsibilities and enhanced technologies have
stretched our physical resources well beyond our capacity. Right now, our
facilities are stretched to the limit."
But Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), a member of the chamber's Homeland
Security Committee, described insufficient funding as the heart of the
problem.
"Insufficient staffing and training seem to be the central reasons for these
inadequate inspections," Akaka said in a statement following Stana's
testimony.
"Approximately $4 billion in capital improvements in the facilities at land
border crossings is needed, but there is only approximately $250 million in
the president's fiscal year 2008 budget for infrastructure improvements," he
said.
Though a significant portion of Stana's testimony dealt with insufficient
funding and facilities, he cited as his first difficulty a lack of vision
among the leadership of Customs and Border Patrol.
"Emphasis is not being placed on all missions, and there is a failure by
some of its officers to recognize the threat associated with dangerous
people and goods entering the country," he said.
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), whose district is heavily affected by its
proximity to the border with Mexico, told Cybercast News Service he agrees
that the problem is deeper than just a lack of funding.
"I am deeply concerned by recent reports of Customs and Border Protection
officers allowing individuals to cross the border without checking their
citizenship status or admissibility," Smith stated. "Putting convenience
ahead of national security will ultimately bear a cost in American lives."
Letiecq said he believes a culture that ignores the rule of law is partly
responsible for the misconduct of agents at the border.
Referring to what he calls "the zero enforcement law" in Virginia, Letiecq
said border agents may feel discouraged by the debate over immigration waged
daily in America. "The prosecution of border patrol agents who are doing
their jobs to the best of their ability must kill morale," he said.
As policymakers continue to wrangle over how to improve efficiency at points
of entry, the problem is apparently getting worse.
According to Stana's testimony, both aliens and alien-smuggling
organizations have become aware of the holes at national ports of entry. He
said they have already "trained operatives to take advantage of these
weaknesses."
Mexicans Stroll Unchecked Through Border Ports
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
A video made during an investigation by the U.S. Government Accountability
Office shows a stream of Mexicans strolling through the border into the U.S.
as federal Custom and Border Patrol agents sit staring at "information on
computer screens."
On another of the videos recorded at eight entry points across the country,
an agent was reportedly waving aliens through the lane without "looking at
them, making verbal contact or inspecting travel documents."
According to testimony from Richard Stana, director of homeland security and
justice issues at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), these
incidents were not isolated.
"While Custom and Border Patrol Officers have had some success in
apprehending inadmissible aliens and other violators, the analyses indicate
that several thousand inadmissible aliens and other violators entered the
country at air and land ports in 2006," Stana said during a hearing of the
Senate federal workforce subcommittee last week.
The danger of such a lax policy is clear to Stana. "It is increasingly the
responsibility of the Customs and Border Patrol to counter the threats posed
by terrorists and others attempting to enter the country with fraudulent or
altered travel documents," he said.
The report states that managers at 19 of 21 field offices told the GAO that
staff shortages had prevented them from carrying out anti-terrorism
activities or hampered their use of radiation monitors and other
technologies to inspect cargo and travelers.
Although Customs and Border Patrol employs about 17,600 officers at U.S.
entry points, it has relied on overtime to keep shifts staffed at a number
of its airports, seaports, and border stations, including some that operate
around the clock. During the 2006 fiscal year, staffing shortages forced
officers to work 4.2 million hours of overtime.
The agency withheld data on staffing from the document, because it deemed
the information too sensitive for public release.
Greg Letiecq, president of the anti-illegal immigrant organization Help Save
Manassas in northern Virginia, said he believes the inability to secure even
entry ports poses grave dangers for national security.
"If it's so patently easy for just a common illegal alien looking for day
labor to walk in without any kind of inspection or investigation, it has to
be easy for an al Qaeda terrorist to do the same," Letiecq said.
Though the danger is easily recognized, officials find it difficult to agree
on how to improve security at these points. During Stana's testimony before
the subcommittee, he cited a general "lack of focus and failure to engage"
as important reasons why thousands of illegal aliens slip under agents'
noses each year.
Paul Morris, executive director for admissibility and passenger programs at
the patrol's Office of Field Operations, said the primary problem was the
state of the agency's facilities.
"We are challenged by the continually expanding demand for our services," he
said. "We have developed and implemented a comprehensive training
curriculum. Expanded responsibilities and enhanced technologies have
stretched our physical resources well beyond our capacity. Right now, our
facilities are stretched to the limit."
But Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), a member of the chamber's Homeland
Security Committee, described insufficient funding as the heart of the
problem.
"Insufficient staffing and training seem to be the central reasons for these
inadequate inspections," Akaka said in a statement following Stana's
testimony.
"Approximately $4 billion in capital improvements in the facilities at land
border crossings is needed, but there is only approximately $250 million in
the president's fiscal year 2008 budget for infrastructure improvements," he
said.
Though a significant portion of Stana's testimony dealt with insufficient
funding and facilities, he cited as his first difficulty a lack of vision
among the leadership of Customs and Border Patrol.
"Emphasis is not being placed on all missions, and there is a failure by
some of its officers to recognize the threat associated with dangerous
people and goods entering the country," he said.
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), whose district is heavily affected by its
proximity to the border with Mexico, told Cybercast News Service he agrees
that the problem is deeper than just a lack of funding.
"I am deeply concerned by recent reports of Customs and Border Protection
officers allowing individuals to cross the border without checking their
citizenship status or admissibility," Smith stated. "Putting convenience
ahead of national security will ultimately bear a cost in American lives."
Letiecq said he believes a culture that ignores the rule of law is partly
responsible for the misconduct of agents at the border.
Referring to what he calls "the zero enforcement law" in Virginia, Letiecq
said border agents may feel discouraged by the debate over immigration waged
daily in America. "The prosecution of border patrol agents who are doing
their jobs to the best of their ability must kill morale," he said.
As policymakers continue to wrangle over how to improve efficiency at points
of entry, the problem is apparently getting worse.
According to Stana's testimony, both aliens and alien-smuggling
organizations have become aware of the holes at national ports of entry. He
said they have already "trained operatives to take advantage of these
weaknesses."
