Canada-U.S. border security 'unacceptably ineffective': report

[alp227]

Source: CBC News

Two prominent American senators say a U.S. government watchdog's report should "sound a loud alarm" over security gaps along the U.S.-Canada border.

Senate Homeland Security chair Joseph Lieberman and Republican Senator Susan Collins said the report prepared by the U.S. Government Accountability Office shows American and Canadian agencies do not have the ability to detect illegal crossings of drugs, weapons and people along the vast majority of the border.

The report concluded just 50 kilometres along more than 6,400 kilometres of the border had reached an "acceptable level of security" in 2010.

Lieberman said the findings should send a message to the Department of Homeland Security and the Canadian government that more must be done.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2011/02/01/canada-us-border-security.html

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Wow, so our borders with both neighbor nations have lax security?

[Drale]

1. Those damn Canadians

always sneaking across the board to get some real bacon. :rofl:

[Robb]

2. That US Customs caught Ahmed Ressam was little more than luck.

That said, "adequately" controllng the US/Canada border -- at least in the manner Lieberman and the GOP want -- would require more sacrifice than either country is, or should be, willing to make.

[Maine_Nurse]

3. Yeah, can't reasonably be done. It is pretty easy to just walk over around here.

Thousands of logging roads, trails, etc in extremely remote areas that would take hours to respond to, even if detected.

[Historic NY]

4. They do realize only the bear & electronic sensors occupy large portions..

[Leonardo Da Biker]

5. In the post 9/11 haste to secure the borders

I recall a report of crews being sent into the Maine outback complaining that they could in many areas not even find the border. Surveys had not been done since the 1920's when the line was marked with stone columns and these crews had a tough time hacking their way through the underbrush to locate these markers. Maps proved inaccurate. They did find plenty of well used trails that took them to the border in spite of their bad maps, somebody knew where it was but apparently not the Dept of the Interior.
If you are going to monitor a border shouldn't you know where it is first?

[gratuitous]

10. Welcome to DU

And on the subject of border security, I wonder why the überpatriots who insist on sealing the Mexican border aren't nearly as worried about the Canadian border? Well, we can be sure it's not racism (so stop saying that), so maybe it's because the weather is so much nicer down south?

[nyy1998]

6. We must stop those illegal moose!!!! They're talking the jobs away from our bears!!!

Sorry, I couldn't resist.:silly:

[Oldtimeralso]

7. How Many Meeses Cross the Border Each Year?

:crazy: :tinfoilhat: :rofl:

[Taverner]

8. Well DUH! There's a park right on the border

and you can walk right across it





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Arch_Park

[CHIMO]

9. One Step

Would be to require visas to cross. Could be a big step to killing NAFTA.

The next thing is a North America Security Perimeter. US giving up control to Canadian requirements.

[arikara]

11. They may not have the resources to catch crooks at the border

but they do have the resources to harass elderly women trying to drive into the US for a vacation. My mother and her friend said after the way they were treated at the border they will never do it again. Vehicle ripped apart for a couple hours and the guards wouldn't even let them go use the bathroom, they thought they were going to burst. There is no rhyme nor reason to the idiocy at the borders these days.

[primavera]

12. But how are US citizens to get affordable drugs...

... other than in Canada? God knows, we can't get them here in this country.