The Military’s Role in Border Security

Homeland Security Affairs ^ | October, 2008 | Bert Tussing

[3AngelaD]

Threats along America’s borders have taken on a new and ominous character. In the past, United States customs and border officials were focused on relatively benign matters of enforcing laws surrounding trade and immigration, protecting agriculture and economic interests from pest and disease, and processing people, vehicles and cargo.

In the last three decades, however, these issues have been joined, and eclipsed, by growing apprehension surrounding matters of far greater concern than illegal immigrants in search of economic opportunities. The migration of gangs across the nation’s borders and into our cities, organized criminal elements trafficking drugs and human beings into the United States, and the specter of terrorists and terrorist devices seeping through our borders to the north and south, all combine to contribute to a growing set of dangers to our people. Moreover, a compounded threat is emerging at the intersection of these concerns, wherein criminal and terrorist elements may unite toward the attainment of shared and separate goals. The combination of these elements elevates the potential disruption to our society beyond the responsibilities of law enforcement to matters of defense.

As the nature and severity of the threat increases, the character of our response to it must change...New cooperation is mandated between the military and the Border Patrol. In terms of that cooperation, the military must be prepared to assume a greater role... to gain full control of our borders to prevent illegal immigration and security breaches. Flagrant violation of our borders undercuts respect for the rule of law and undermines our security. It also poses a particular burden to those in our border communities. We are developing a new approach to controlling the border, one that includes an integrated mix of additional staff, new technology and enhanced infrastructure investment....

[3AngelaD]

This long article contains a wealth of information, much of it very disturbing.

[angcat]

I know some of our Army troops from Washington State were deployed to the Canadian/US Border this weekend. Some type of car was found with fertilizer and explosives. That is all I know.