CBP Commissioner Bersin Testifies on
Northern Border Security
(05/17/2011)Testimony of Alan D. Bersin, Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security, Before the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security Regarding Northern Border Security
(05/17/2011)Testimony of Alan D. Bersin, Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security, Before the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security Regarding Northern Border Security
[As Prepared]
Chairman Schumer, Ranking Member Cornyn, and distinguished Members of
the Subcommittee, it is a privilege and an honor to appear before you today to
discuss U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) efforts along the northern
border. I am Alan Bersin, Commissioner of CBP.
As America’s frontline border agency, CBP is responsible for securing
America’s borders against threats, while facilitating legal travel and trade. To
do this, CBP has deployed a multi-layered, risk-based approach to enhance the
security of our borders while facilitating the flow of lawful people and goods
entering the United States. This layered approach to security reduces our
reliance on any single point or program that could be compromised and includes
close coordination with DHS partner agencies, with other U.S. interagency
partners, and with our Canadian counterparts. It also extends our zone of
security outward, ensuring that our physical border is not the first or last
line of defense, but one of many.
Northern Border Environment and Challenges
Along the U.S. northern border, CBP processes more than 70 million
international travelers and 35 million vehicles each year. Since the
implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) in June 2009,
WHTI compliance along the northern border is at approximately 99 percent,
allowing CBP to facilitate travel and focus on individuals who may pose a threat
to national security. In addition, CBP annually makes approximately 6,000
arrests and interdicts approximately 40,000 pounds of illegal drugs at and
between the Ports of Entry (POE) along the northern border. Although CBP
typically defines the northern border region as the area between the United
States and Canada, running from Washington through Maine and including the Great
Lakes region, CBP also facilitates and ensures the security of trade across the
Alaska-Canadian border. On the northern border, CBP has 122 land border
crossings and 13 ferry land crossings, eight Border Patrol Sectors, eight Air
and Marine Branches, nine Coastal Marine Units and 23 Riverine Marine Units to
protect against the illegal flow of people and contraband at and between the
official POEs.
There are a number of ways in which the northern border is
operationally distinct from other environments. The international boundary with
Canada extends over 5,500 miles across both land and water (including the border
of Alaska), and it is often described as the longest common non-militarized
border between any two countries. It delineates two friendly nations with a long
history of social, cultural, and economic ties that have contributed to a high
volume of cross-border trade and travel, amounting to more than a billion
dollars a day. The border is a diverse region consisting of major metropolitan
centers, integrated bi-national communities, numerous transit hubs, and vast
regions with little or no population. Thickly forested, mountainous areas with
recreational trail networks provide avenues and cover for those seeking to cross
the border illegally. The extensive commercial and transportation infrastructure
along the border also provides avenues vulnerable to exploitation by traffickers
and smugglers, including vehicular transportation, commercial trucking, and
commercial and non-commercial air, rail, and maritime modes of transportation.
The Great Lakes region consists of several large bodies of open
water, including the Great Lakes themselves, and rivers along the border.
Because the lakes are heavily used by boaters in the summer and ice fisherman
and snowmobiles in the winter, they present unique border enforcement challenges
as small vessels can potentially be exploited for illicit purposes.
Seasonal changes affect the ease with which the northern border can
be crossed; in general, winter allows the Border Patrol to focus its attention
on fewer points of egress as compared to the summer, when much more of the
border is passable. In the winter, sub-zero temperatures and significant
snowfall provide a natural barrier along some portions of the border. While
pedestrian and vehicle traffic are reduced during the winter, illegal entries
utilizing snowmobiles are not unusual. When frozen, some rivers, lakes, and
streams become easier for smugglers and others to utilize for crossing the
border on foot, via snowmobiles or other modes of transport, while other areas
become treacherous with ice floes and are less traversable. The spring thaw can
cause impassibly deep mud on some logging roads, thereby closing them to
commercial truck traffic. During this period, there is an increase in smuggling
via all-terrain vehicles (ATV).
CBP Resources on the Northern Border
Over the past two years, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
has dedicated historic levels of personnel, infrastructure, and technology to
the northern border as it has to the southwest border. Since 9/11, Border Patrol
agent staffing on the northern border has increased by over 650 percent – from
approximately 340 agents in 2001, to more than 2,200 agents today. CBP has
employed two unique programs to achieve these increases in northern border
staffing: the Northern Border Intern Program and the Resident Agent Pilot
Program. Since its inception in 2008, the Northern Border Intern (NBI) Program
has allowed CBP to deploy 531 fully trained Border Patrol agents to the northern
border. These NBIs complete 14 to 15 months of extensive training at the Border
Patrol Academy as well as in the field along the southwest border. During their
tenure on the southwest border, they learn invaluable lessons in order to obtain
the necessary officer safety skills, job knowledge, and experience required for
northern border operations. Traditionally, the Border Patrol has viewed the
activity levels along the southern border as beneficial to forming a
well-rounded agent and conducive to overall training. Currently there are an
additional 180 NBIs going through their field training on the southern border.
The Resident Agent Pilot Program in Grand Forks Sector has deployed
35 agents in 12 different remote locations throughout the sector in order to
enhance its geographic presence. Agents involved in this program compose
self-reliant units who perform all the standard duties without a traditional
base of operations. Resident Agents are ideally suited for providing the field
commanders with an unprecedented level of situational awareness within remote
areas of the border. They are able to provide improved situational awareness by
focusing their daily activities on the creation of partnerships, expansion of
community outreach, and the development and dissemination of intelligence. This
situational awareness is leveraged to benefit DHS, CBP Border Patrol Sectors,
Field Offices, and Air and Marine Branches.
At the POEs along the northern border, CBP’s Office of Field
Operations (OFO) has deployed more than 3,800 CBP Officers and Agriculture
Specialists. We have developed and implemented a comprehensive training
curriculum for these Officers and Agriculture Specialists, which includes basic
academy training, as well as comprehensive, advanced, on-the-job and
cross-training courses. CBP continually strives to provide our frontline
officers with recurrent training to help them better perform their jobs.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provided CBP with
$420 million to modernize CBP-owned land POEs (LPOEs) and provided the General
Services Administration (GSA) with $300 million to modernize GSA-owned LPOEs.
CBP and GSA are utilizing ARRA funds to modernize and renovate 39 northern
border LPOEs to bring these facilities into compliance with post-9/11
requirements and standards to address growing demand for additional capacity,
new requirements for enforcement technologies, and to maximize the efficiency of
existing personnel and resources.
Also within CBP, the Office of Air and Marine (OAM) has 158 Air and
121 Marine Interdiction agents deployed along the northern border. Since 2004,
CBP has opened five strategically located Air Branches along the northern border
in Washington, Michigan, Montana, New York and North Dakota. CBP has stationed
52 fixed-wing and rotary aircraft on the northern border, including two Unmanned
Aircraft Systems (UAS) operating out of Grand Forks Air Branch in North Dakota.
CBP, with the cooperation of the Federal Aviation Administration, recently
expanded its operational airspace along the northern border, allowing CBP UAS
operations from the Lake-of-the-Woods region in Minnesota to the vicinity of
Spokane, Washington. An area of northern New York adjacent to Lake Ontario and a
portion of the Saint Lawrence Seaway were also recently opened for CBP UAS
operations. These UAS contribute significantly to situational awareness in areas
that are difficult to reach by other operational elements – a critical
capability in difficult terrain along the northern border. In the maritime
environment, since 2009, OAM has opened six new marine units on the northern
border in New York, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Washington. Currently, CBP
operates 29 coastal and 52 riverine vessels on the northern border.
As a part of a multi-layered approach to secure America’s borders,
CBP has also greatly improved our technological capabilities on the northern
border. CBP has deployed two mobile surveillance systems (MSS) to provide added
radar and camera coverage in the Spokane and Detroit Sectors, and installed
additional remote video surveillance systems (RVSS) in the Detroit and Buffalo
Sectors, among other technologies.
CBP has also established the Operational Integration Center (OIC)
located at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township, Michigan. The
OIC is a demonstration project, involving the application of personnel and
technology to enhance border security and situational awareness for CBP and its
mission partners in the Detroit region, a critical area of the northern border.
In terms of personnel, the OIC allows for a collaborative work area and
communications capabilities for all components of CBP, the United States Coast
Guard (USCG), other DHS organizations, federal law enforcement agencies, state
and local law enforcement, and appropriate Canadian agencies. The OIC brings
together information feeds, including radar and camera feeds, blue force
tracking, database query from databases not previously available to CBP, remote
sensor inputs, RVSS and MSS feeds, and video from various POEs and tunnels.
Additional information feeds such as local traffic cameras and MSS will be added
in the near future. This level of personnel and technology integration may serve
a model for collaboration and technology deployments in other areas of the
northern border.
To continue to bolster our northern border security efforts, our FY
2012 budget request includes $55 million to support investments in technology
systems that address security needs for the northern border maritime and cold
weather environment, as well as innovative technology pilots. It will also
deploy proven, stand-alone technology that provides immediate operational
benefits. These demonstrations and deployments explore how best to integrate
various border security organizations and mission operations in order to enhance
border security in this challenging environment.
In the coming year, CBP plans to continue to expand joint operations
by exploring a joint command with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) in the Great Lakes
Region. The Air and Marine Operations Center (AMOC), which includes
representatives from the USCG, as well as other agencies, provides a
comprehensive picture of the air environment in the United States. The AMOC can
monitor violations of U.S. airspace, track potentially dangerous aircraft, and
coordinate and expedite an operational response. Our FY 2012 budget request
continues to strengthen the AMOC by exploring opportunities to incorporate the
USCG into management and decision-making, and expand AMOC’s intelligence
capability.
Northern Border Strategy: Intelligence and Partnerships
As we have increased our operational presence on the northern border,
we have also continued to build on our partnerships and intelligence
capabilities, in order to provide comprehensive awareness of the environment to
our strategically placed personnel and resources. Although the northern border
is nearly three times the length of the southwest border, the volume of illicit
cross-border activity is significantly lower. Nonetheless, Canada remains a
major source for MDMA/Ecstasy and high potency marijuana consumed in the U.S.,
while cocaine, weapons, illicit drug proceeds, and other contraband regularly
crosses from the U.S. into Canada. In this environment, in which a reduced
volume of traffic is spread across vast expanses of border, we must rely on
intelligence, information-sharing, and strong partnerships with federal, state,
local, tribal, and bi-national law enforcement agencies, as well as with the
public and private sectors, to maximize resources and ensure the success of our
mission. Coordination and cooperation among all entities that have a stake in
our mission has been, and continues to be, paramount.
President Obama and Prime Minister Harper of Canada recently issued
Beyond the Border: A Shared Vision for Perimeter Security and Competitiveness.
The declaration states that both the U.S. and Canada share responsibility for
the safety, security, and resilience of both countries. It further states the
importance of addressing threats before they reach our shores. Key to achieving
this vision is greater information sharing, a risk-management approach, and
engaging both with all levels of government and with communities. Both countries
committed to developing an integrated strategy that would enable each to meet
the threats and hazards faced by both nations, including natural disasters and
terrorism. We will look for opportunities to integrate efforts, including joint
facilities, programs, and operations.
CBP is working closely with all of our partners to increase
information-sharing and intelligence capabilities on the northern border. This
information-sharing enhances our understanding of evolving threats and
establishes a foundation for law enforcement entities to exercise targeted
enforcement in the areas of greatest risk. All-source intelligence analysis
provides domain awareness and informs, enables, and supports action by
policymakers and operators in securing the northern border. This
intelligence-driven approach prioritizes enforcement activities based on
emerging threats, vulnerabilities, and risks, and greatly enhances our border
security efforts.
It is important to emphasize that our objective is not just to
strengthen border security, but also promote economic prosperity between the
United States and Canada. Our strategy on the northern border is built on the
premise that security and lawful trade and travel are not mutually exclusive,
but rather mutually reinforcing. We must safeguard the transnational flows of
goods and people, while also encouraging the lawful and efficient trade and
travel essential to the economic vitality of both the United States and Canada,
and the economic competitiveness of North America. By utilizing advance
information to separate higher-risk from lower-risk traffic, officials on both
sides of the border are better able to expedite the processing of lawful travel
and trade, and focus more time and resources on the higher-risk traffic.
Border Security Coordination and Cooperation
Recognizing the importance of partnerships, intelligence, and
information sharing to the success of our mission, CBP is engaged in several
national initiatives to increase security on the northern border. Our officers
and agents provide support to the Integrated Border Enforcement Teams (IBET),
comprised of U.S. and Canadian federal, state/provincial and local law
enforcement personnel, and encompassing 15 regions along the northern border.
The IBET concept was formalized in December 2001 with five core agencies: CBP,
USCG, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Royal Canadian Mounted
Police (RCMP), and the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA). IBETs operate as
intelligence-driven enforcement teams designed to increase information- and
intelligence-sharing capabilities between U.S. and Canadian authorities. By
incorporating integrated mobile response capability (air, land, marine), the
IBETs provide participating law enforcement agencies with a force multiplier,
maximizing border enforcement efforts.
On the northern border, ICE and our other law enforcement partners
work to dismantle criminal organizations. The aggressive use of investigative
and prosecutorial resources is critical on the northern border, where a whole of
government approach is needed to attack criminal organizations before they have
the opportunity to take root and expand. Our personnel provide manpower to ICE’s
Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) units along the northern border,
which focus on every element of the enforcement process, from interdiction to
prosecution and removal. BEST units utilize a comprehensive approach towards
dismantling the cross-border criminal organizations that exploit our border and
utilize that information to eliminate the top leadership and the supporting
infrastructure that sustains these criminal organizations.
Border Patrol has also established Border Security Evaluation Teams
(BSET), which serve as a mechanism for northern border sectors to expeditiously
evaluate the security of outlying border zones of a sector. BSETs gather
intelligence and establish points of contact with state and local law
enforcement agencies, local civic leaders and the public to determine if
suspected cross-border activities and intelligence indicate a need for
deployment of additional Border Patrol resources in certain areas. BSET findings
are used by Sector Chiefs to establish baseline border security levels and
assist with the sector’s planning process.
CBP continues to engage in collaborative efforts with the Department
of the Interior (DOI) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to fulfill its
enforcement responsibilities on federal lands. In March 2006, the Secretaries of
DHS, DOI, and USDA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which describes
cooperative national security and counterterrorism efforts on federal lands
along U.S. borders. This MOU provides specific guidance on cooperation related
to border security as well as compliance with related environmental laws,
regulations, and policies.
In addition to the MOU, we have created several innovative solutions
to strengthen interagency communication on federal lands. In 2005, the Border
Patrol established the Public Lands Liaison Agent (PLLA) Program. Under this
program, each sector designates an agent dedicated to interacting with
organizations and agencies involved in land management issues. The PLLA’s job is
to build and maintain solid working relationships with our land management
agency counterparts so that we can capitalize on opportunities to collaborate
and work through any issues that may arise. Borderland Management Task Forces
increase communication and provide a unique opportunity to leverage resources
and quickly identify and resolve any potential problems.
In an effort to increase intelligence and information-sharing among
our partners, Processing, Exploitation, and Dissemination (PED) cells have been
established at the AMOC in Riverside, California, and at the National Air
Security Operations Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota, to provide essential
information to law enforcement across the nation – increasing understanding of
evolving threats and providing the foundation for law enforcement entities to
exercise targeted enforcement in the areas of greatest risk. This
intelligence-driven approach prioritizes emerging threats, vulnerabilities and
risks, which greatly enhances our border security efforts.
Additionally, CBP, in conjunction with CBSA and RCMP, recently
completed a Joint Border Threat and Risk Assessment, which provides U.S. and
Canadian policymakers, resource planners, and other law-enforcement officials
with a strategic overview of significant threats along the border between the
United States and Canada. The threat assessment encompasses a range of national
security issues, including cross-border criminal organizations, drug trafficking
and illegal immigration, the illicit movement of prohibited or controlled goods,
agricultural hazards, and the spread of infectious disease. The assessment also
further highlights the commitment of the two countries to identify and mitigate
potential threats along our shared border, where there is a potential of
terrorism and transnational organized crime.
Coordination on the northern border is further enhanced through the
participation in joint operations and task forces, including Operations Channel
Watch, Outlook, and Frozen Timber. These operations are conducted under the
auspices of the multi-agency enforcement teams, composed of representatives from
Canadian and U.S. federal law enforcement agencies who work together with local,
state, and provincial enforcement agencies to target transnational criminal
activity, including investigations involving national security and organized
crime.
In addition, we are working with the Office of National Drug Control
Policy and other interagency partners to develop the inaugural Northern Border
Counternarcotics Strategy. On January 4, 2011, the President signed H.R. 4748
requiring ONDCP to consult with the head of relevant National Drug Control
Program agencies and relevant officials of international, state, local, and
tribal governments to develop a Northern Border Counternarcotics Strategy by
this summer. The Department of Homeland Security joins ONDCP, the Department of
Justice, and the Department of State as executive agents in developing this
strategy.
Enhancing Economic Prosperity
CBP is committed to a coordinated approach to border management that
strengthens border security and promotes economic prosperity. Ensuring the
secure flow of trade and reducing transaction costs are critical to promoting
economic growth on the northern border.
In support of these efforts, CBP established a Canada Integrated
Planning and Coordination Cell (CIPCC), designed to crosscut the organizational
structure of CBP and align CBP’s initiatives regarding Canada and the
U.S.-Canada border under a single, dedicated team. The CIPCC, in concert with
CBSA, has developed a bilateral and integrated border management framework,
which supports improved continental security, enhanced mobility of people and
goods, and increased economic prosperity of both Canada and the United States.
Through a collaborative process, the CIPCC and CBSA are working to
implement initiatives focused on increasing information sharing, harmonizing
policies and programs, and ensuring the coordination and cooperation of
infrastructure planning and improvements. As part of this effort, on January 19,
2011, we established the Small Ports Working Group to develop a long-term
strategy to more effectively and efficiently manage small POEs along the
northern border. Based on mutual assessments of each POE, applying agreed-upon
criteria, CBP and CBSA will coordinate port operations and identify joint
solutions, where possible.
We continue to develop and implement several additional initiatives
consistent with the Beyond the Border declaration that recognize that more than
90 percent of all non-trusted cargo and more than 98 percent of trusted cargo is
cleared at the point of primary inspection. CBP will continue to keep this
Subcommittee closely apprised as we continue to explore creative approaches to
expedite legitimate trade and travel with our U.S. interagency partners and our
counterparts in Canada.
Measuring Success on the Northern Border
As Secretary Napolitano recently stated, while we have made
significant progress over the past two years, we continue to focus on new ways
to more comprehensively measure results along our nation’s borders. This applies
not only to the southwest border, but the northern border as well. CBP, in
consultation with independent, third-party experts and stakeholders, has begun
the process of developing an index that will more holistically represent what is
happening at the border and allow us to measure progress.
Although the northern border environment differs greatly from the
southwest border, the measures we develop must provide an accurate assessment of
how the investments we have made are improving the lives and livelihoods of the
people who live in each border region. While the specific metrics and value
associated with each metric may differ than those used to measure success on the
southwest border, the overall index must be applicable in all environments in
which we operate. The success of our efforts along the northern border, as along
the southwest border, must be measured in terms of the overall security and
quality of life of the border region; the promotion and facilitation of trade
and travel; and the success of our partnerships in enhancing security and
efficiency.
Conclusion
Chairman Schumer, Ranking Member Cornyn, and distinguished Members of
the Subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to testify about U.S. Customs
and Border Protection’s efforts in regards to northern border security. I look
forward to answering your questions at this time.
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