A Trip to the Border

This past weekend I had the opportunity to visit several of our facilities on the southwest border and meet many of our people who operate on the front line. I’d like to share with you some of the important work the men and women of DHS do everyday to protect our homeland.

In San Diego I visited the port of San Ysidro, the largest port in the country on one of the busiest days of the year. Observing our defense in depth I witnessed canine teams in action walking the inbound lanes and officers interviewing people. I met with the Border Patrol and inspected the double fencing we have in the San Diego area and was briefed on the violence that criminals trying to get into this country carry out at the border. This does not get a lot of press coverage in the Washington DC area, but make no mistake about it, this is a combat zone at the border and our men and women deal with an enemy who uses coordinated command and control, modern communications technology and distributed approaches with violence to enter this country illegally. I had the opportunity to visit “Smugglers Gulch” around sunset and saw people across the border assembling at various staging areas for what would most likely be an attempt to cross at night. I also saw first hand where secure borders that protect our citizens in this country can lead to strong economic development that benefits business and individuals.

I visited the Port of Long Beach, CA and observed large cargo ships being unloaded and observed our screening operations using X-rays, remote portal monitors and the new Advanced Spectroscopic Portal (ASP). This is a business where profit margin to the port operators is low, time is money and time is measured in seconds and minutes. I was briefed on how the Director of Port Operations and the USCG Captain of the Port meet every morning to coordinate their operations. This serves as a multiplier in the use of their resources.

Traveling to Arizona, I met with the Custom and Border Protection (CBP) folks who run air operations and received a detailed briefing on the use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and the significant role they play in securing our borders. The Predator B UAS has the capability to fly for 30 hours at a time covering up to 2,800 nautical miles at altitudes over 50,000 ft mean sea level carrying a 3,500 pound payload. During 2006 and 2007 CBP Predator Bs flew more than 1500 flight hours in support of border security missions and contributed to the seizure of more than 15,000 pounds of marijuana and the apprehension of more than 4,000 illegal aliens.

Flying by helo to the Law Enforcement Center I observed the different types of terrain at the border, some very harsh, and saw first hand why an integrated architecture that utilizes a combination of fences, technology and manpower and not one of these alone, is required to secure the border.

The Tohono O’odham Indian Nation occupies a substantial portion of the Arizona land area and our relationships with this sovereign nation are a key element of our outreach in the state. I had the good opportunity to meet with representatives of the nation and understand how the Border Patrol and the nation cooperate in matters concerning security of the border.

Also during my visit I had the opportunity to observe first hand how our deployed biometric and biographic systems are aiding our Border Patrol agents. I observed agents identify an illegal alien that was caught – his seventh time trying to enter the country, and another illegal alien with many documented criminal warrants was apprehended.

On the ground I observed some of the various technologies that are being deployed as part of SBInet and spoke directly with the people doing operational testing of the P-28 system. When fully matured this type of capability will greatly enhance our border operations.

In Nogales, Ariz., the nation’s largest agricultural port, I learned about the complexities of controlling agricultural products and the tremendous job that our agricultural inspectors do. I saw how the inspectors approach the difficult task of trying to locate banned products, as well as the magnitude of the large number of commodities they look for. Most of the folks I met have biology or science degrees and have been working a range of jobs that employ this expertise. I also observed how technology is speeding the flow of traffic while still providing the assurance that we need. On one of the busiest days of the year I watched how visitors to our country are treated with respect and dignity while our people on the front line are enforcing our laws.

The challenge to our men and women on the front line is the myriad of documentation that they must scrutinize for 45-60 seconds to make a decision on whether or not to admit someone to this country. This is a very difficult challenge especially when you examine the large number of documents that people on the front line have to deal with. It puts into clear perspective why we are driving to implement many of our programs such as the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.

There has been violence in Nogales and until you visually eyeball the geography and realize it is a city with a wall through it – one side in the US and the other side in Mexico, do you get a good appreciation for how difficult this challenge is.

The greatest opportunity I had during this trip was to get to know many of our people. The people that work on the border come from a range of diversified backgrounds with ages that range from the early 20s to the 50s and higher. But perhaps what was very inspiring to me was that they all approach their work with enthusiasm, dedication and a sense of commitment that is probably without peer. We are all very fortunate that these dedicated men and women are on the front lines every day serving our nation.

Paul A. Schneider
Deputy Secretary (Acting)

Biometrics: Unmasking Terrorists and Criminals

US-VISIT is a DHS program that collects fingerprints from visitors and biographical information in order to establish and verify identity, prevent fraud, and stop dangerous people from entering the United States. Collecting this information from international visitors is one of the best ways to maximize security while ensuring maximum privacy.

Since US-VISIT was added to the immigration inspection process in 2004, almost two thousand criminals and immigration violators have been prevented from entering this country. We’ve been successful because fingerprints are unique. Unlike names and dates of birth, they cannot be easily altered. Unlike documents, they cannot be forged. Digital fingerprints – also known as biometrics -- are revolutionizing our ability to keep legitimate travel moving while barring the entry of dangerous individuals.

We’re now improving this process by collecting all 10 fingerprints, instead of just two, from almost all non-U.S.-citizen visitors to our country. State Department consular officers already collect 10 fingerprints at almost all of its visa-issuing posts in order to make visa determinations before people can even travel to our shores. In November, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers began collecting 10 fingerprints from visitors at Washington Dulles International Airport. During the next year, this capability will expand to all air, sea and land ports of entry. CBP officers use this information to help them determine whether a visitor should be admitted to the United States.

The most visible benefit of transitioning from two- to 10-fingerprint collection is that we can actually improve the travel process by more accurately and efficiently identifying legitimate visitors. This means that we can focus our resources on those who pose the greatest risk.

But perhaps the most important and least obvious benefit is how this change helps us fight terrorists and criminals.

Terrorists thrive on their ability to move undetected around the world, but they do leave a trail of clues behind. For example, every day full or partial fingerprint images are left behind at crime scenes, terrorist safe houses, and even on bomb fragments or other battlefield debris. The defense and intelligence communities are collecting these latent fingerprints. US-VISIT adds these fingerprints to and checks them against our watch list of known or suspected terrorists, criminals and immigration violators and our database of immigration information.

Collecting a visitor’s full set of fingerprints instead of just two provides dual benefits: 1) Now, should we collect any part of a fingerprint at the scene of terrorist activity or any other crime and that same person applies for a visa or arrives at a U.S. port of entry, we could stop him or her; and 2) No matter what kind of fingerprint we find, we are more likely to identify the nameless suspect based on their U.S. immigration or criminal history.

This initiative was put to the test in 2005 when latent fingerprints lifted from the steering wheel of a suicide truck bomb detonated in Iraq were sent to US-VISIT for identification. US-VISIT identified the suicide bomber as someone who had once attempted—and been denied—entry to the United States. The suicide bomber was no longer anonymous. Removing this anonymity from terrorists helps us unravel their networks, disrupt their operations, and ultimately derail their plans to do us harm.

Robert Mocny
Director, US-VISIT Program