News
- US beefs up Canadian border security
- 6/18/2009
CBP to increase patrol ranks by 45 percent
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is increasing the number of people working at the Canadian border by 45 percent.
Last week, Jayson Ahern, acting commissioner of CBP, told a Senate Judiciary Committee subcommittee that his agency is augmenting its border patrol ranks at the northern frontier in an effort to tighten security.
“Our plans call for 1,845 agents by the end of this year, and 2,212 by the end of next year.” he said.
Currently, CBP has approximately 1,550 individuals at the Canadian border.
Ahern went on to detail the security initiatives behind the need for more manpower, among them the implementation of fixed and mobile sensors at select crossings under the Secure Border Initiative.
Ahern’s speech came on the heels of US Department of Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano’s announcement of US$60 million in funding to improve border security. Of that, more than US$12 million is being allocated to states bordering Canada.
While most of Napolitano’s concern is devoted to the US border with Mexico, where a large drug trade is seen to threaten security, she has devoted plenty of attention to the Canadian border as well. Shortly after taking office in January, she requested a review of possible weak points along the 9,000km frontier.
“The northern border of the United States has become, since 9/11, important to our national security,” she wrote in an action directive dated January 23, 2009.
“As we have designed programs to afford greater protection against unlawful entry, members of Congress and homeland security experts have called for increased attention to the Canadian border.”From MM&D Magazine