INTEGRATED BORDER ENFORCEMENT TEAMS
NOW COVER CANADA-U.S. BORDER FROM COAST TO COAST

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Solicitor General of Canada Wayne Easter and the Attorney General of the United States, John Ashcroft today announced the creation of two more Integrated Border Enforcement Teams (IBETs) to improve security across the Canada-U.S. border. This fulfills a key commitment of the 2001 Canada-U.S. Smart Border Declaration.

A new Superior region IBET will cover the Ontario, Michigan and Minnesota borders, and a new Okanagan region IBET will focus on British Columbia and Washington State. With these two teams, IBETs now cover every strategic location across the entire Canada-U.S. border.

IBETs are multi-agency teams combining U.S. and Canadian law enforcement, immigration and customs officials, working together daily with local, state and provincial enforcement agencies. They are strategically located along the length of the border to ensure it remains open to trade and travel, but closed to criminal or terrorist elements.

Attorney General Ashcroft said, “When we strengthen our northern border, we effectively deter those who may try and escape detection, arrest or prosecution,” said Attorney General Ashcroft. “These Integrated Border Enforcement Teams not only enhance our border integrity, but also demonstrate the success of our joint cooperation on cross-border law enforcement.”

“These teams help ensure the greatest possible integration of our knowledge and understanding of potential threats,” said Mr. Easter. “IBETs have already enjoyed considerable success and are a model of how two countries can work together for the protection of all our citizens.”

In addition to the two new teams announced today, IBETs are already operating in the following border areas: Pacific, Rocky Mountain, Prairie, Red River, Detroit/Windsor, Niagara, Thousand Islands, St-Lawrence Valley Central, Valleyfield, Champlain, Eastern, and Atlantic.

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See backgrounder

Contact: Amy Jarrette
Office of the Solicitor General of Canada

This document is also available at the Solicitor General Canada web site: www.sgc.gc.ca.

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