proposing that we disband the Department of Homeland Security entirely<\/a>.<\/p>\n“We need to consolidate the functions, the oversight functions, from the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense,” Gibson says.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the region is still recovering from the lengthy shutdown of the bridge at Cornwall, which was closed following a dispute between Canadian and tribal officials.<\/p>\n
None of these problems serve to eclipse some real progress that has been made at the border in recent years. <\/p>\n
New facilities and new personnel have made the border more efficient and, arguably, more effective at stopping illegal activity while facilitating trade and other cross-border traffic.<\/p>\n
But recent incidents make it clear that more work needs to be done — and more thinking.<\/p>\n
After 9\/11, the US effectively created a northern border where none had existed before, at least since the late 1800s.<\/p>\n
This occurred without much big-think strategizing or discussion.<\/p>\n
It was a reaction to a frightening and confusing event.<\/p>\n
Ten years later, it’s important to ask what has been accomplished, what we’ve gained by the massive expenditure on the border and what we’ve lost.<\/p>\n
Is it possible, for example, to significantly limit the amount of smuggling that goes on with contraband and illegal immigrants? Or is the border just too vast, too wild, too porous?<\/p>\n
Is it possible to reduce the threat of terrorists using Canada as an entry point and transiting to the US? <\/p>\n
Or would it be more effective for the US to partner more closely with Canada’s security agencies to prevent suspects from reaching North America entirely?<\/p>\n
Finally, do many of the border measures enacted over the last decade amount to window dressing?<\/p>\n
I’ve spoken with state and Federal officials who remain privately skeptical about northern border security.<\/p>\n
New security measures cost billions and in many cases create significant hurdles to legitimate commerce.<\/p>\n
But it’s fair to question whether they have made the country safer, or significantly reduced crime.<\/p>\n
President Barack Obama held a summit recently to talk about nuclear security, a hugely important issue.<\/p>\n
But the US-Canada border is the largest and most important trading link in the world.<\/p>\n
It’s time for both countries to begin an open, public discussion — one that includes native American and first nations communities — of how the frontier should be managed.<\/p>\n
You thoughts welcome below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tribal leaders on the Akewsasne-Mohawk reservation are raising questions about the high-speed boat chase last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1860"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1860\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}