U.S. mulls Canadian border fence

[Voyageur]

Paranoid rhetoric begins again - Photo's & Video not included.

_http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/09/29/fence-border-canada.html

The Canadian Press
Posted: Sep 29, 2011 9:38 AM ET

Canada border fence?

A 12-metre swath cut through the forest defines the border between Canada and the U.S. north of Polebridge, Mont. Jennifer DeMonte/Daily Inter Lake/Associated Press

The United States is looking at building fences along the border with Canada to help keep out terrorists and other criminals, according to a draft report by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency
The report proposes the use of "fencing and other barriers" on the 49th parallel to manage "trouble spots where passage of cross-border violators is difficult to control."

But a spokesperson for U.S Customs and Border Protection said the government is not considering the fence option "at this time" and instead is looking at the environmental effects of putting more manpower, technology and infrastructure along the border.

9/11 SECURITY New border measures affect Canadians' lives

The border service is also pondering options including a beefed-up technological presence through increased use of radar, sensors, cameras, drones and vehicle scanners. In addition, it might continue to improve or expand customs facilities at ports of entry.

The agency considered but ruled out the possibility of hiring "significantly more" U.S. Border Patrol agents to increase the rate of inspections, noting staffing has already risen in recent years.

Customs and Border Protection is inviting comment on the options and plans a series of public meetings in Washington and several U.S. border communities next month. It will then decide which ideas to pursue.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano noted last month the challenges of monitoring the vast, sparsely populated northern border region. She stressed manpower, but also a greater reliance on technology.

Ironically, the moves come as Canada and the U.S. try to finalize a perimeter security arrangement that would focus on continental defences while easing border congestion. It would be aimed at speeding passage of goods and people across the Canada-U.S. border, which has become something of a bottleneck since the 911 attacks.

Relatively speaking, Washington has focused more energy and resources on tightening security along the border with Mexico than at the sprawling one with Canada.

A U.S. Government Accountability Office report recently warned that only a small portion of the border with Canada is properly secure. It said U.S. border officers control just 50 kilometres of the 6,400-kilometre boundary.

The Customs and Border Protection report says while fences have been a big element in deterring unauthorized crossings of the U.S.-Mexican border, "it is unlikely that fencing will play as prominent a role" on the northern border, given its length and terrain that varies from prairie to forest.

However, the agency would use fencing and other barriers such as trenches to control movement and sometimes delay people trying to sneak across the border, increasing the likelihood they could be caught, says the report.

It doesn't provide details about what the fences might look like, but suggests they would be designed to blend into the environment and "complement the natural landscape."

The approach would also involve upgrading roadways and trails near the border.

"The lack of roads or presence of unmaintained roads impedes efficient surveillance operations," says the report. "Improving or expanding the roadway and trail networks could improve mobility, allowing agents to patrol more miles each day and shortening response times."

Over the last two years, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has already made what it calls "critical security improvements along the northern border," adding inspectors at the ports of entry and Border Patrol agents between ports, as well as modernizing land crossings.

Nearly 3,800 Customs and Border Protection officers scrutinize people and goods at crossings. The number of Border Patrol agents working between crossings along the northern parallel has increased 700 per cent since Sept. 11, 2001. And some three dozen land ports of entry are being modernized.

Unmanned U.S. aircraft patrol about 1,500 kilometres along the northern border from Washington to Minnesota as well as more than 300 kilometres of the Canadian border around New York state and Lake Ontario.

 

[monksgirl]

pretty sure the fences would be designed as much to keep us from leaving as to keep them from entering

 

[Alana]

pretty sure the fences would be designed as much to keep us from leaving as to keep them from entering

I couldn't agree with you more. I have been living in Canada for the last (almost) two years, and most Canadians I know would never want to migrate to the US. What is more possible to happen, is for the US to invade Canada in the not too distant future, because Canada still has what the US government, in bed with big corps, has destroyed in their own country. There are still vast lands of forests, lakes and rivers, wild animals, and free health care system for all the citizens. Not to mention the gas and oil reserves. Of course there is ponerization, as the country is led by a psychopath, who will most likely sell this country to his own kin when the time comes....

In any event, I think that the fence story and its retraction is just smokes and mirrors. The Canadian/US border is already under 24/7 surveillance by the Predators.

 

[Voyageur]

[quote author=Alana]
In any event, I think that the fence story and its retraction is just smokes and mirrors. The Canadian/US border is already under 24/7 surveillance by the Predators.
[/quote]

Yes, agree. A 6,400-kilometre boundary type fence is pure rhetoric; except in old China. However, it helps keep people thinking that their politicians are trying to keep those darn terrorists from entering the US from Canada. For most of those kilometers there is a whole lot of empty space that just is not accessed or easily accessible - and who wants to anyway. Any terrorist, if they can be called that, are perhaps just given passports and marched willy-nilly/matter-of- factly onto a plane, courtesy of some internal operative and all the rest is politics, taxes, employment, harassment and play's it's part in the really-big-show, much to the detriment of people living on either side of the frequency fence.

As a comparison:

_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wall_of_China
The most comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has concluded that all the walls measure 8,851.8 km (5,500.3 mi). This is made up of 6,259.6 km (3,889.5 mi) sections of actual wall, 359.7 km (223.5 mi) of trenches and 2,232.5 km (1,387.2 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers.

Pretty close distances to each other.

 

[Rose]

pretty sure the fences would be designed as much to keep us from leaving as to keep them from entering

That's exactly what I thought when I read this. If the Americans really built walls along the Mexican and Canadian borders, then the U.S. would look like a giant prison. But I agree this is more likely more fake war on terror propaganda.