Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative....Passports
The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative is gradually being phased into effect. Basically this is going to make it a requisite to have a passport to enter the country. This has always been the case when coming from the Eastern Hemisphere, but shortly in the air environment, a passport will be required from all foreign arrivals. This will be put into effect in the land environment next year. The dream is that by requiring everyone to have these documents, we can catch the terrorists trying to enter the country. Of course like everything else now a days, the passports are supposed to be smart documents, hard to counterfeit and high tech.
There are a few problems with this new requirement. One, is that a major goal of the terrorists we are fighting is to hurt our economy. Requiring passports from people living along the nations borders, some of the poorests parts of the country will have dire consequences for the economy of these areas. Many of these people on both sides of the borders can't afford the cost of the passports.
As a result of the above, you are going to have more people from Mexico and Canada attempting to sneak across the border. This in itself is going to cost the nation money in that you will have Border Patrol responding to more sensor hits and sightings of illegal aliens and this is expensive if you consider fuel costs, processing costs, housing, food, and time. In addition, we will be wasting resources on low risk for terrorism individuals because of a situation WE created. It is circular in that it will create a greater need for more Patrol Agents and once again more expense for the nation responding to low risk subjects.
Beyond what has been previously stated, this is my greatest concern. Border agencies continue to become more and more reliant on high tech databases utilizing bio-metric information. At the same time, they are under great pressure from the airlines and business communities to facilitate the flow of people entering the country. In this high stress and fast paced world, what happens is the Officers working the border Ports become reliant on these databases and documents. Swipe the document, stamp the documents, and DTR (down the road-an industry term), Welcome to America-We Love You. Primary Inspections become a muscle memory instead of threat assessment... AND THIS IS BAD. You have to understand that the terrorists, like those who killed 3,000 on 9/11 used genuine passports to enter the United States, they did not sneak across the border. Khalid Sheik Mohammed the Commander of the 9/11 plot had over 30 genuine passports, all with different information, when he was captured. Documents are only part of the big picture when conducting threat assessment. Over reliance on these documents detracts from the most important part of the process, the interview. That is when you are going to determine if the person in front of you is being deceptive. Anything that detracts from the interview is counter-productive to the overall mission. The requirement for the passport is another nail in the coffin that belongs to the interview. In our business, a little more talk leads to a lot more action.
BT
There are a few problems with this new requirement. One, is that a major goal of the terrorists we are fighting is to hurt our economy. Requiring passports from people living along the nations borders, some of the poorests parts of the country will have dire consequences for the economy of these areas. Many of these people on both sides of the borders can't afford the cost of the passports.
As a result of the above, you are going to have more people from Mexico and Canada attempting to sneak across the border. This in itself is going to cost the nation money in that you will have Border Patrol responding to more sensor hits and sightings of illegal aliens and this is expensive if you consider fuel costs, processing costs, housing, food, and time. In addition, we will be wasting resources on low risk for terrorism individuals because of a situation WE created. It is circular in that it will create a greater need for more Patrol Agents and once again more expense for the nation responding to low risk subjects.
Beyond what has been previously stated, this is my greatest concern. Border agencies continue to become more and more reliant on high tech databases utilizing bio-metric information. At the same time, they are under great pressure from the airlines and business communities to facilitate the flow of people entering the country. In this high stress and fast paced world, what happens is the Officers working the border Ports become reliant on these databases and documents. Swipe the document, stamp the documents, and DTR (down the road-an industry term), Welcome to America-We Love You. Primary Inspections become a muscle memory instead of threat assessment... AND THIS IS BAD. You have to understand that the terrorists, like those who killed 3,000 on 9/11 used genuine passports to enter the United States, they did not sneak across the border. Khalid Sheik Mohammed the Commander of the 9/11 plot had over 30 genuine passports, all with different information, when he was captured. Documents are only part of the big picture when conducting threat assessment. Over reliance on these documents detracts from the most important part of the process, the interview. That is when you are going to determine if the person in front of you is being deceptive. Anything that detracts from the interview is counter-productive to the overall mission. The requirement for the passport is another nail in the coffin that belongs to the interview. In our business, a little more talk leads to a lot more action.
BT
posted by Border Train at 6:43 PM
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