Before the September 11 attacks, 340 border patrol agents were assigned to oversee the Canadian border, a number that has since increased to 1,530. Along with this increase have come more frequent roadside checkpoints and patrols, and a doubling of the agency’s budget over the past five years to a total of $11 billion for 2009. There were roughly 75,000 apprehensions along the northern border between 2004 and 2006 that were sent to immigration courts, but only two were terrorism-related.

 

While the agency certainly does have a strong presence, some feel that it has strayed too far from its original purpose and is more of a burden than anything else. Immigrant rights proponents point to the high number of immigration arrests by the CBP along the Canadian border, saying that the agency responsible for catching possible terrorist and other security threats is instead rounding up undocumented workers in search of economic opportunity. Of the total number of prosecutions put forth by the CBP last year, 90% were for ordinary immigration charges. Because the CBP operates up to 100 miles from the Canadian border, many of the people it apprehends are not even caught crossing the border; and, although they are undocumented, they have been working in the United States for years.

 

Local police forces also find the CBP presence cumbersome; and last year, Jeff Sullivan, the U.S. Attorney in Seattle, told the agency to stop bringing him cases of minor marijuana possession arising from their roadblocks.

 

Still, those supportive of the agency’s work so far argue that each arrest is a sign of progress, and that the preventative effect of their efforts should be taken into account as well.

-Lucy Benz-Rogers

 

Heightened Security at U.S.-Canada Border Catching Few Terror Suspects (by Nadja Drost, Seattle Post Intelligencer)