On April 15, 1999, I said this.
I have been saying all along that sealing the border wasn't only about poor hard working honest illegal immigrants who want a better way of life, but there is another matter regarding the "invitation to terrorists."
Hal
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U.S. says drugs, terror pouring in from Canada
Lawmakers say 'lenient' practices an open invitation to criminal elements
By Peter Morton
The National Post (Canada), April 15, 1999
WASHINGTON - Canada's lax immigration and drug laws have made it a launch pad for Middle East terrorists, gangs, and crime families operating along the border with the United States, the chairman of a U.S. judiciary subcommittee said yesterday.
"A porous border is open invitation for illegal drug smugglers and for terrorists and their goal of mass destruction," said Rep. Lamar Smith, U.S. chairman of the subcommittee probing the sharp increase in drugs, terrorists, and illegal immigrants coming into the U.S. from Canada.
Some 12,000 illegal immigrants were nabbed at the Canada-U.S. border last year by 279 agents who inspected 113 million people, he said.
"The question is, HOW MANY DID THEY MISS," he asked.
The possibility of terrorists, armed with weapons of mass destruction, using Canada as a springboard to sneak into the U.S. on terrorist missions is making U.S. lawmakers nervous.
"(The Immigration department) and other intelligence reports indicate that terrorist groups locate in Canada in part because of CANADA'S LIBERAL VISA AND ASYLUM LAWS and because of the country's proximity to the United States," Michael Bromwich, the U.S. inspector general for the Justice Department, told the panel investigating the sharp increase.
In January, Lloyd Axworthy, the Foreign Affairs Minister, travelled to Jamaica to launch the final element in his "soft power" foreign policy initiative -- a hemispheric debate on the illegal drug trade. His goal was to create a special international forum of foreign ministers to find ways to combat the international drug trade.
The effort was part of his "human security" foreign policy agenda, which includes protecting civilians from acts of terrorism.
But yesterday the U.S. judiciary subcommittee heard that Canada's lax drug laws have created a booming trade in the sale of marijuana to the U.S., in particular from British Columbia, where the Hells Angels motorcycle gang has increased sales of indoor-grown marijuana to the Los Angeles market, where it gets more than $4,000 (US) a kilogram.
Drug seizures, mostly along a narrow 100-kilometre strip on the B.C.-Washington border, soared 600% between 1997 and 1998, to 1,985 kilograms of marijuana last year.
"Their lenient drug policies have moved marijuana growing out of my county to their country," said Dale Brandland, a sheriff from Whatcom County in Washington State.
"And it is so easy to get into Canada that something has to be done on that level."
The problem of illegal drugs from Canada is dwarfed by the 450,000 kilograms seized along the Mexican border last year, but lawmakers are still alarmed.
"Ten years ago we experienced very little alien or drug smuggling along the border," said Eugene Davis, deputy chief patrol agent for the U.S. Border Patrol in Blaine, Wash. "We know that illegal smuggling activity takes place on a daily basis."
As well, because Canada does not demand visas from as many countries as the U.S., "this has resulted in many smugglers being able to easily bring third-country nationals into Canada and smuggle them across the border," he said.
They all point to famed terrorist Abu Mezer, who was caught three times trying to enter the U.S. from Canada. When Canada refused to take him back, he was freed in the U.S. pending his deportation hearing. Mr. Mezer is now serving a life sentence for plotting to blow up New York's subway system.
"It is clear to me from this case . . . that northern border enforcement issues are vitally important to the security of the United States," said Mr. Bromwich.
David Harris, a former Canadian government spy, blamed Ottawa's liberal immigration policies, as well as the country's casual attitude about the growing international tension, for Canada's increasing attractiveness to terrorists.
"Terrorism is now alive and well and living in Canada," said Mr. Harris, president of Insignis Strategic Research in Ottawa and former chief of strategic planning for CSIS.
Stolen cars, cigarettes and liquor, and chemicals used to make synthetic drugs were also listed among the items pouring over the border into the United States.
Lawmakers are at loss on how to handle the problem. Both the committee and U.S. Border Service want more guards to man the 5,635 kilometres of undefended border. But the U.S. administration is reluctant to shift its resources away from the southwest border, where 7,000 guards are now stationed because of the far larger problem there.
Raymond Chretien, the Canadian ambassador to the U.S., along with several others, said the best solution was closer co-operation with the RCMP and provincial police.
"The sharing of the information between these agencies . . . represents the best strategy to prevent the movement of drugs between our two countries and protect our citizens," Mr. Chretien said in a letter to the committee.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace also called for tighter immigration control in both Canada and Mexico. "A fortress North America may be easier to create than a fortress U.S.A.," said Demetrios Papademtrious, a senior associate at Carnegie.
