Border Security Policies and

US-Canada Relations
Rey Koslowski
Fellow, Transatlantic Academy, Washington, DC
Associate Professor of Political Science, Public Policy
and Informatics
University at Albany, State University of New York

Ambassador Bridge
post 9/11/01

Smart Borders
The border of the future must integrate actions
abroad to screen goods and people prior to their
arrival in sovereign U.S. territory.
Agreements with our neighbors, major trading
partners, and private industry will allow extensive
pre-screening of low-risk traffic, thereby allowing
limited assets to focus attention on high-risk
traffic.
The use of advanced technology to track the
movement of cargo and the entry and exit of
individuals is essential to the task of managing the
movement of hundreds of millions of individuals,
conveyances, and vehicles
- White House, Jan. 25, 2002

Scenarios for US-Canada border

No borders: lift internal border controls
after erecting a common external border.
Smart borders: increase security and
facilitate travel using technology and
registered traveler programs
Virtual borders: automated data
collection, data-mining, biometrics & RFID
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Presentation outline
Possibilities of no borders with N.A. perimeter
SBInet: physical barriers and a virtual fence
US-VISIT: automated biometric entry-exit
WHITI: passport to enter US
Alternatives: security through US-Canada cooperation
Proposal: identity management and global mobility

No Borders
North American Security Perimeter
lifting internal border controls
common external border

Presupposes:
customs union
common visa policy

Lifting border controls in the EU

1957 Treaty of Rome

committed states to customs union in 12 years

1968 customs union achieved

1986 Single European Act

committed EC states to end non-tariff barriers by 1992

1990 Schengen Convention

harmonizes asylum and visa policies

1993 customs controls at internal borders lifted

1995 all internal border controls lifted
38 years from treaty commitment to customs union to lifting
all internal border controls
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CUBA?

Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro and Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
join in a singalong during Trudeau's Latin American Tour, January 1976.
8

"I will maintain the embargo. It provides us

with the leverage to present the regime
with a clear choice.
Barak Obama
Miami, Florida
May 23, 2008

Visa-free travel
To US and Canada (35 countries):
Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland,
Ireland, Italy, Japan, S. Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein,
Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway,
Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden,
Slovenia, Switzerland, United Kingdom

Additionally to Canada (17 countries):

Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Botswana, Cyprus,
Greece, Israel, Mexico, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Poland,
St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Solomon Islands,
Swaziland, Western Samoa;
British dependent territories: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin
Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat,
Pitcairn, St. Helena or the Turks and Caicos Islands;
Hong Kong
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Secure Border Initiative Network (SBInet)

Virtual Fence

US-Canadian Border - Farmed

US-Canadian Border Forested

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Border Patrol apprehending illegal crossers

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While others cross elsewhere

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1,349 miles of forested border

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Fingerscans at consulates & PoEs

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Table 1: FY 2002 Entries into the US (in millions)

Air

Sea

Land

Totals

US Citizens

33.0

7.4

120.7

161.1

Legal Permanent Residents

4.4

0.2

75.0

79.6

13.0

0.3

1.8

15.1

52.2

52.2

4.5

28.3

104.1

104.1

358.3

440.4

Visa Waiver
Visa Exempt (Canadians)
Regular Visa

19.3

4.5

Mexican Border Crossing Card

Totals

67.9

12.4

Table 2: False Claims to Citizenship

To US
To other

FY1999

FY2000

FY2001 FY2002 FY2003 FY2004

27,781

31,964

30,129

15,293

12,878

12,404

1,108

787

908

836

269

295

Western Hemisphere Travel

Initiative (WHTI)
Intelligence Reform and Terrorism
Prevention Act of 2004
a valid passport or
documentary proof of citizenship
beginning Jan. 1, 2008

Delayed to June 1, 2009

Jan. 2008: oral declaration of citizenship
no longer accepted
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Our ID's are the best ID Cards money can buy. They
also come with many added security options such as
holograms
Learn More about Fake ID's
http://www.theidshop.com

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Pakistani and Polish Passports (genuine)

Australian and Philippine Passports (fake)

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Crossing with fraudulent documents

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WHTI requirements:
June 1, 2009
passport
wallet-sized passport card (PASS)
Enhanced Drivers License (EDL)

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Personal Authentication Device (PAD)

32

PAD system in action

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Alternative: Binational inspections

Canadians collect data for US-VISIT

Binational zones for preclearance
European binational cooperation

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Workplace Enforcement
1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

5.9 M

6.1 M

6.5 M

7.0 M

7.8 M

17,554

13,914

2,849

953

735

485

Indictments

865

1,023

417

178

100

Convictions

778

535

297

180

78

Est. unauthorized
population

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

10.3 M

11.1 M

12 M

445

159

251

716

53

162

66

195

441

13

124

46

188

493

Employer
investigations

Arrests

Identity Management and Global Mobility

(a potential research project)
UAlbany Center for Technology in Government
Identity document fraud complex problem
Examine administrative reforms:

Birth certificate issuance process (US states)

Digitization of vital records (US States, Italy)
National identity management (UK, Australia)
US-VISIT: biometric data service provider

case studies, best practices

NYS agencies
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Conclusions
No borders not politically viable
Virtual borders constrained by infrastructure
Smart borders can be improved with border
infrastructure and/or binational inspections
Hope for N.A. perimeter could reduce support
for infrastructure budgets and taxes
Political capital not infinite; choices necessary

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Further reading and info:

Smart Borders, Virtual Borders or No Borders: Homeland Security
Choices for the United States and Canada. Law and Business
Review of the Americas, Vol. 11, (Summer/Fall 2005).
Prepared Testimony for US-VISIT: Challenges and Strategies for
Securing the U.S. Border, Hearing before the Subcommittee on
Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security of the Committee on
the Judiciary, United States Senate, January 31, 2007.
Real Challenges for Virtual Borders: The Implementation of US-VISIT,
Migration Policy Institute, June 2005.
available at:
Rey Koslowski webpage
http://www.albany.edu/~rk289758/
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