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72–807 PDF 2012

S. HRG. 112–260 

IMPROVING SECURITY AND FACILITATING COMMERCE AT AMERICA’S NORTHERN BORDER 

AND PORTS OF ENTRY 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION, 

REFUGEES AND BORDER SECURITY 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

MAY 17, 2011 

Serial No. J–112–21 

Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary 

( 

(II) 

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY 

PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont, Chairman 

HERB KOHL, Wisconsin 

DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California 

CHARLES SCHUMER, New York 

DICK DURBIN, Illinois 

SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island 

AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota 

AL FRANKEN, Minnesota 

CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware 

RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut 

CHUCK GRASSLEY, Iowa 

ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah 

JON KYL, Arizona 

JEFF SESSIONS, Alabama 

LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina 

JOHN CORNYN, Texas 

MICHAEL S. LEE, Utah 

TOM COBURN, Oklahoma 

BRUCE A. COHEN, Chief Counsel and Staff Director 

KOLAN DAVIS, Republican Chief Counsel and Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION, REFUGEES AND BORDER SECURITY

CHARLES SCHUMER, New York, Chairman 

PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont 

DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California 

DICK DURBIN, Illinois 

AL FRANKEN, Minnesota 

RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut 

JOHN CORNYN, Texas 

CHUCK GRASSLEY, Iowa 

ORRIN HATCH, Utah 

JON KYL, Arizona 

JEFF SESSIONS, Alabama 

STEPHANIE MARTY, Democratic Chief Counsel 

MATT JOHNSON, Republican Chief Counsel 

(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

STATEMENTS OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS 

Page 

Cornyn, Hon. Jon, a U.S. Senator from the State of Texas ................................. 2 

Grassley, Hon. Charles E., a U.S. Senator from the State of Iowa, prepared 

statement .............................................................................................................. 71 

Leahy, Hon. Patrick J., a U.S. Senator from the State of Vermont .................... 5 

Schumer, Hon. Charles, a U.S. Senator from the State of New York ................. 1 

WITNESSES 

Bersin, Alan, Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC ................................................... 7 

Morton, John, Director, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC ................................................... 8 

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 

Responses of Alan Bersin to questions submitted by Senator Cornyn and 

Sessions ................................................................................................................. 24 

Responses of John Morton to questions submitted by Senator Cornyn .............. 48 

SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD 

Bersin, Alan, Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC, statement ................................ 50 

Border Trade Alliance (BTA), Nelson Balido, President, San Antonio, Texas, 

May 17, 2011, letter ............................................................................................. 62 

Cortez, Richard, Mayor and Bridge Board Chair of McAllen, McAllen, Texas, 

statement .............................................................................................................. 68 

Kelley, Colleen M., National President, National reasury Employees Union 

(NTEU), Washington, DC, statement ................................................................. 73 

Morton, John, Assistant Secretary, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC, statement ......... 86 

Russell, Addie J., Assemblywoman 118th River District, Albany, New York, 

statement .............................................................................................................. 103 

Weisberg-Stewart, Monica, Texas Border Coalition, Austin, Texas, statement . 106 

Washington Post, December 6, 2010, article ......................................................... 108 

(1) 

IMPROVING SECURITY AND FACILITATING 

COMMERCE AT AMERICA’S NORTHERN BORDER AND PORTS OF ENTRY 

TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2011 

U.S. SENATE, 

COMMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION, 

REFUGEES AND BORDER SECURITY, 

Washington, DC. 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:07 a.m., Room 226, 

Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Charles E. Schumer, Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding. 

Present: Senators Leahy, Klobuchar, Grassley, and Cornyn. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. CHARLES E. SCHUMER, A U.S. 

SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK, CHAIRMAN OF 

THE SUBCOMMITTEE 

Senator SCHUMER. The hearing will come to order. Thank you all 

for being here. I want to thank our Ranking Member, John Cornyn, 

and my leader on this Committee and our great chair, Senator 

Leahy, for being here. 

Anyway, today’s hearing is on improving security and facilitating 

commerce at our northern border and ports of entry. Last August, 

along with Senator Kyl, I passed a $600 million supplemental border bill that fortified the southern border. But after we addressed 

the southern border, the Government Accountability Office issued 

a report indicating that, ‘‘Only 32 of the nearly 400 northern border 

miles in fiscal year 2010 had reached an acceptable level of security.’’ 

Upon reading that report, I asked Commissioner Bersin and Director Morton, the heads of the two major agencies who are responsible for border security to testify here today on how we can improve security at our northern border. 

The Department of Homeland Security has good people who are 

working very hard with limited resources, under incredibly difficult 

circumstances, to identify, investigate, and interdict terrorists, 

criminals and smugglers along the northern border. 

But more can and must be done. I have a few ideas to enhance 

northern border security that I want to ask the witnesses about 

today, including deploying technology to track drug smuggling aircraft on the northern border, bringing an integrated, multiagency 

law enforcement initiative to the northern border, and funding 

2 

state, local and tribal law enforcement officials as force multipliers 

along the northern border. 

Although this hearing took several months to schedule, I am 

thankful to finally have our witnesses here. Today’s hearing will 

also discuss our ports of entry. Senators Cornyn, Kyl, Graham and 

Feinstein sent Chairman Leahy a letter asking to hold a hearing 

on U.S. ports of entry and infrastructure on the southern border. 

Their letter stated many southern border ports of entry need additional U.S. Customs and Border Protection and infrastructure improvements. In some instances, southern border ports of entry also 

require expansion to accommodate the high value of traffic that 

passes through the ports on a daily basis. 

I could not agree more and I believe the same holds true for the 

northern border. I was happy to expand the scope of this hearing, 

with Senator Leahy’s permission, to include discussion on ports of 

entry, but I would be remiss if I did not point out that H.R. 1, the 

House appropriations bill for 2011, actually cut $60 million in funding for our ports of entry and also proposed cuts to the Border Patrol of nearly 900 agents. 

I was very disturbed by these cuts and sent a letter to House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers and DHS Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Robert Aderholt asking that these cuts be reconsidered. 

Although we successfully prevented the cuts to border agents, 

the cuts to ports of entry remained in the continuing resolution 

passed in the House, were insisted on by the House in order to 

avoid a government shutdown, a result, of course, that would have 

been far worse for commerce on the border. 

Now, the House’s proposed 2012 DHS appropriations bill cuts an additional $26 million for ports of entry. If passed, funding for our 

ports of entry would be cut by 27 percent when compared to 2010. 

We need to be very careful to use a scalpel to cut wasteful spending as opposed to a meat ax which cuts critical investments, like 

ports of entry, solely to achieve cuts for their own sake rather than 

achieve iconic growth. 

Our distinguished panel will move us closer to finding solutions 

to securing the northern border and our ports of entry, and I look 

forward to their testimony. 

I now recognize the distinguished Ranking Member, Senator Cornyn, for a statement. 

STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN CORNYN, A U.S. SENATOR FROM 

THE STATE OF TEXAS 

Senator CORNYN. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thanks to 

the witnesses. Chairman Leahy, thank you for allowing us to 

schedule this hearing. It is very important. 

Of course, if you can imagine having a Chairman of the Subcommittee from New York and a Ranking Member from Texas, we 

are going to cover both quarters today. 

We know from experience at our ports, borders pose a national 

security risk. Recently, the Government Accountability Office confirmed that only 44 percent of the southern border is secure. And 

despite the President’s and Secretary Napolitano’s statements 

about border security and the number of resources that have been 

3 

devoted to the border, 44 percent is nothing to celebrate nor should 

we declare that our work is done so we can then move on to other 

things. 

We hear stories all the time about smugglers and drug cartels, 

much of which is true, working day and night to try to enter the 

United States undetected. We also hear stories of individuals who 

pose a national security threat attempting to enter the United 

States illegally. 

For example, just a few months ago, a Muslim cleric was caught 

in California in the trunk of a car after being smuggled across the 

southern border. He had previously been deported from Canada to 

Tunisia, but arranged to be smuggled into the United States 

through Central America, Belize, and Mexico. 

Though he was arrested by Customs and Border Patrol, thankfully, after being spotted by local firefighters, this incident makes 

me wonder how many others have managed to do the same thing 

he has, and rather than be apprehended, were successful. 

Every year, we see many other individuals from countries other 

than Mexico. People other than folks who just want to come here 

and work and provide for their families crossing our borders, 

whether they be enterprising drug cartels, human traffickers, people who traffic in illegal weapons, through our ports of entry. 

We also know that nearly half of the illegal population in America is composed of persons who came here legally and simply overstayed their visas, roughly 40 percent, last count I saw, of our illegal immigration. 

I think that is an important point, Mr. Chairman, that it is not 

just a matter of border security. It is a matter of having enforceable immigration laws and being able to detect and apprehend people who overstay their visas, as well. 

According to the General Accounting Office, Department of 

Homeland Security has arrested about 8,100 people who have overstayed. But there is a backlog of 1.6 million potential overstays 

that the DHS has not yet even had the opportunity to review. 

So we do not know who these individuals are and many times 

we cannot even locate them here in the United States. We also do 

not know whether any of these visa overstays bear ill will to the 

United States or are criminals. 

With the recent changes in the Department of Homeland Security’s enforcement priorities and uneven enforcement of immigration laws, across the country as a result of inadequate resource, I 

am not confident that the DHS will ever be able to make sure that 

we can identify who is here, why they are here, and when they 

have left. 

Secretary Napolitano last week testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee about visa 

overstays. When asked if she would be increasing investigations to 

locate such individuals, the Secretary stated that to do so was a 

costly and labor-intensive endeavor. 

I agree with that characterization, but it is no excuse not to do 

your job, and this suggests to me that the Secretary does not consider visa overstays to be a real priority. 

I am quite sure that locating visa overstays would have become 

an immediate priority for the Administration if Hosam Maher 

4 

Husein Smadi had succeeded in his mission to blow up a skyscraper in Dallas in 2009. 

We have made some progress on border and port security working together through the past Administration and the current Administration. That is good, but we still have a long way to go. I must say, Mr. Chairman, when you say that the $600 million 

we spent fortified the southern border, while we are grateful for 

the additional help, we still need more help. There is more work 

to be done. 

Over the years, I have heard from my constituents, local business 

owners and organizations, like the Texas Border Coalition and the 

Border Trade Alliance, about the long lines and extensive delays at 

southern ports of entry. This makes the important point that it is 

not only about security, it is about allowing legitimate trade and 

commerce to enter the country, because that creates jobs here and 

there and is good for our economy. 

I might ask, Mr. Chairman, I have three letters, one from the 

Border Trade Alliance, one from Hon. Richard Cortez, Mayor of 

McAllen, and one from the Texas Border Coalition. I would ask 

unanimous consent to make them part of the record. 

Senator SCHUMER. Without objection, they will be made part of 

the record, as will the entire statements. 

[The letters appear as a submission for the record.] 

Senator CORNYN. I have also heard about old ports of entry that 

are crumbling and in need of repairs. I am sure that is true on the 

northern border, as well. 

So last week I asked the Border Trade Coalition and Border 

Trade Alliance whether any of their concerns had been addressed, 

and ultimately their concerns remain the same. 

Every year, our southern ports of entry handle approximately 

352 million travelers and nearly 106 million cars, trucks, buses, 

trains, vessels, and aircraft. Given this volume, we should expect 

Homeland Security to make staffing and security changes at ports 

of entry a priority. Of course, that is going to take more resources, 

and I am not questioning the good faith or the good efforts of the 

Department to do what it can with what it has. I am just saying 

that Congress needs to do more to enable these folks at Homeland 

Security to do their job and to do it more thoroughly. 

The calls for changes to ports of entry seem to have fallen on 

deaf ears, though, which is another reason why I am glad we are 

having this hearing today. 

So Secretary Napolitano claims that the border is open for business. But at what level? If we really want to highlight legitimate 

trade and commerce, we should be doing everything we can to improve our relationship with Mexico, our third largest trading partner. 

The Federal Government must do a better job of enabling legitimate trade and commerce by expanding trusted traveler and shipper programs, finding a better way to plan and finance our ports 

of entry, and improving cooperation between state and local officials. 

We need to clamp down on the cartels who exploit every avenue 

to transport guns, drugs, and people in and out of the United 

States. Many people have left the southern border and would gladVerDate Nov 24 2008 11:36 Feb 24, 2012 Jkt 072807 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\GPO\HEARINGS\72807.TXT SJUD1 PsN: CMORC
5 

ly return to their communities if they felt secure. I think if we can 

provide Mexico with $1.6 billion through the Merida Initiative for 

enforcement, we can surely find enough money to improve our 

ports of entry and provide necessary resources to state and local 

law enforcement. 

Last year, the President signed a supplemental appropriation bill 

that allocated $176 million to fund 1,000 new Border Patrol agents. 

While it increased the size of the Border Patrol, it barely touched 

the number of CBP officers needed to staff our ports of entry. 

I introduced an amendment that would have authorized $200 

million to hire 500 new CBP officers to staff high volume ports of 

entry and make infrastructure improvements. This amendment 

would have provided resources for Federal, state and local law enforcement officials who work on the front lines of the U.S. border 

every day. 

I also have a bill, the Emergency Port of Entry Personnel and Infrastructure Funding Act of 2009, which would authorize $6 billion 

over 6 years for additional CBP officers at our ports of entry, modernization of our current land ports of entry, and construction of 

new ports on the northern and southern borders. 

This bill would authorize a level of funding that would truly 

make a difference at the southern border ports of entry and I will 

continue to push for additional resources while we continue to discuss appropriations with the Department of Homeland Security. 

Despite all of our challenges, I am glad to say that the State of 

Texas remains a thriving center of economic growth and investment. This growth will only continue with the prioritization of port 

of entry construction, approval of trade agreements, and increased 

targeting of illicit trade and smuggling. 

I look forward to hearing the testimony today, as well as your 

recommendations for improving commerce and transit through our 

southern ports of entry. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Senator SCHUMER. Thank you, Senator Cornyn. 

Our Chairman is here and he has asked to make a brief statement before we get to our witnesses. 

Chairman Leahy. 

STATEMENT OF HON. PATRICK J. LEAHY, A U.S. SENATOR 

FROM THE STATE OF VERMONT 

Chairman LEAHY. Thank you, Senator Schumer. I appreciate you 

holding this hearing. Senator Cornyn and you both represent 

states, large states, one on the northern border, one on the southern border. And I appreciate you expanding the hearing to address 

commerce at the points of entry. 

I appreciate what the President said last week about efforts to 

enact comprehensive immigration reform. I strongly supported 

former President W. Bush’s effort to do that. I wish we could have, 

and I think that we want to be realistic. As difficult as it may be 

politically for some, we are going to have to have a comprehensive 

immigration policy. 

Commissioner Bersin, I honored two Border Patrol agents who 

died in the line of duty last week, Eduardo Rojas, Jr. And Hector 

6 

Clark. And I know that many talked about them when we were at 

the, as Mr. Morton knows, law enforcement event on Sunday. 

I say this because nobody should take for granted or forget the 

sacrifices made by the agents of the Border Patrol. 

Now, in Vermont, we do have a border and in our little state, we 

sometimes refer to Canada as the giant to the north. But our Canadian neighbors are partners in trade and commerce. They are joint 

stewards of our shared communities, and some of our communities 

are half in Canada, half in Vermont. Both nations try and make 

sure the border is secure. 

It is a vital link in our National security chain. It is very challenging to guard and protect the longest, non-militarized border in 

the world, and those who want to do us harm are going to look for 

openings and gaps, whether it is in the mountain wilderness in 

New England, the Great Lakes, or the rural plains of the Midwest. 

Now, before September 11, 2001, the northern border had been 

chronically understaffed and neglected. Since then, Congress has 

allocated a great deal of money to upgrade the equipment we have, 

the surveillance, vehicles, new stations, technology and so on. 

A recent GAO report on northern border security assures more 

can be done, especially in deploying technology and developing 

partnerships with local and state law enforcement. 

I had previously raised concerns with the Secretary of Homeland 

Security because Customs and Border Protection staffing in 

Vermont has dipped considerably in recent years, in part, because 

resources were shifted to the southern border. I worry that insufficient staffing will also cause excessive delays at the ports of entry, 

for example, during our summer tourism season. 

The ties between Canada and Vermont run deeper than trade 

and commerce and they are based on more than tourism. Many 

Vermont families have members on both sides of the border. We 

have a number of first generation Canadian-Americans in our 

state, at least one of whom is married to this Senator. And some 

towns, like Derby Line, spread across the international line. 

I think we have to prove that they are secure, but we have to 

also make sure that people can move back and forth. It is a major 

commercial factor and now with the Canadian dollar worth slightly 

more than the U.S. dollar, which is a major change in the last 20 

years, it is even that more important. 

I also appreciate the department’s effort to help us resolve the 

issue of the Morses Line crossing. 

Last, I would like to discuss the restoration of Amtrak rail service between Vermont and Montreal, Quebec. It is a critical link 

that can be done provided we take care of the border crossing. 

Senator Schumer has two cross-border trains in New York State. 

There is another one, I believe, operating in Washington State. So 

let us look at these issues, because Canada is an enormous trading 

partner. We have our security concerns, but we also have major 

economic concerns. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

[The prepared statement of Senator Leahy appears as a submission for the record.] 

Senator SCHUMER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Now, let me introduce our witnesses and thank them for coming. 

7 

Alan Bersin is Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. As Commissioner, he oversees the operation of CBP’s 57,000 

employee workforce, manages a budget of $11 billion. He is responsible for fulfilling CBP’s mission of protecting the Nation’s borders 

from all threats, while facilitating legitimate trade and travel. 

John Morton is the Director of Immigration and Customs, ICE. 

ICE is the principal investigative arm of Homeland Security and 

the second largest investigative agency in the Federal Government. 

Created in 2003, it has a budget of $5.7 billion, 20,000 employees 

in offices in all 50 states and 47 countries. 

The Agency’s primary mission is to promote homeland security 

and public safety through the criminal and civil enforcement of 

Federal laws governing border patrol, customs, trade, and immigration. 

Gentlemen, your entire statements will be in the record. We ask 

you to limit your testimony to 5 minutes each. 

Mr. Bersin, you may start. 

STATEMENT OF HON. ALAN BERSIN, COMMISSIONER, U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, WASHINGTON, DC 

Commissioner BERSIN. Good morning and thank you, Chairman 

Schumer, Ranking Member Cornyn, Chairman Leahy, and Senator 

Grassley. It is an honor to be here in front of this Subcommittee 

focusing on the northern border. 

We all know that the southern border has been the primary focus 

of activities of CBP and DHS, as well as DOJ, with regard to border affairs, but never do we lose sight of the fact that keeping dangerous people and dangerous things away from the American 

homeland, which is the primary obligation of Customs and Border 

Protection, involves a northern border every bit as much as the 

southern border. 

In fact, we have built up the resources, as the Chairman has indicated, significantly over the past decade. We at CBP have gone 

from 340 agents to 2,200 agents. We have gone to 279 air interdiction pilots and agents on the northern border. We have gone to 

3,800 CBPOs, CBP officers who staff 122 land ports of entry that 

stretch from Washington State to Maine. 

In every respect, we have seen a resourcing of the northern border, although not as dramatically extensive as that which has 

taken place on the southern border, actually represents a huge increase. 

In the case of Border Patrol agents, we have increased the number 650 percent more than six times in the last decade. 

So the question from the standpoint of, I believe, Secretary 

Napolitano, as well as Mr. Morton and myself, as we deploy these 

new resources, is to recognize that borders are borders, but as 

every Canadian, every Mexican, every resident of the northern and 

southern borders will remind us, the northern border is different 

from the southern border; and, in fact, we need to take those differences into account. 

While measurements—metrics may, at end, have to be responsive to both borders, in fact, they have to both reflect a quality of 

8 

security and a level of quality of life that is important to both north 

and south. 

So what are the major differences in terms of the north as we 

think about moving forward in terms of northern border security? 

The first is while, as all of the Senators who have commented 

have indicated, we have $1 billion a day of trade going north and 

south over the Canadian-U.S. border. Building up a competitive 

United States economy in concert with Canada so that North 

America can compete with East Asia, with the Indian subcontinent, 

and with Brazil and South America is a critical dimension of our 

work in Customs and Border Protection. 

We recognize that security and economic competitiveness go 

hand-in-hand; that, in fact, when you deal with the volume of trade 

and traffic that comes across the northern border and the southern 

border, that unless we do risk-managed handling of that cargo and 

those persons, unless we separate out trusted travelers and trusted 

shippers from those about which we either have derogatory information or about whom we lack sufficient information to make a 

judgment to expedite their movement, that we can have both security and economic competitiveness and a facilitated lawful traffic 

and trade. 

Because we are dealing with a border that is three times the size 

of the southern border, 5,400 miles of diverse environments which 

vary in terrain, climate and population density, we must look to deploying technology so that we can detect threats in ways that are 

tailored and customized to the northern border. 

The second major dimension about our relationship with Canada 

is that we must look at our security not only in terms of the northern border and the Canadian southern border, but also in terms of 

North American continental security. And recognizing these jointly 

held objectives, president Obama and Prime Minister Harper recently signed a very important accord with regard to the CanadianU.S. border. Entitled ‘‘Beyond the Border: A Shared Vision for Perimeter Security and Competitiveness,’’ it recognizes that we are 

most secure both in Canada and the United States if we look at 

the job of security as being a continental one. 

So as we move forward, Senators, into this vision, we will actually have to see security and commerce as contributing to one another, not as competing. 

I look forward to answering your questions. 

[The prepared statement of Commissioner Bersin appears as a 

submission for the record.] 

Senator SCHUMER. Thank you, Mr. Bersin. And your entire statement will be read into the record. I know you had more testimony. 

And the same for you, Mr. Morton. Your entire statement will be 

read in the record. You may proceed. 

STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN MORTON, DIRECTOR, U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF 

HOMELAND SECURITY, WASHINGTON, DC 

Mr. MORTON. Chairman Schumer, Ranking Member Cornyn, 

Chairman Leahy, Senator Grassley, good morning to you, to Commissioner Bersin, as we discuss security along the northern and 

southern border. 

9 

As you noted, Mr. Chairman, ICE is the Department’s principal 

criminal investigative arm, and we have jurisdiction over a broad 

range of crimes relating to border security, including export and 

import controls, international child exploitation, and the smuggling 

of drugs, people and money. 

To this end, we have approximately 1,600 special agents and 40 

intelligence personnel in our northern border offices. We, along 

with our partners at CBP, are also charged with the civil arrest, 

detention and removal of individuals illegally entering the country 

in violation of the immigration laws. We have roughly 1,500 enforcement and removal officers in our northern border offices dedicated to this task. 

Working with CBP, these special agents and officers have produced strong results. Last fiscal year, our offices covering the 

northern border seized a combined total of $38 million, nearly 

130,000 pounds of marijuana, one ton each of cocaine and ecstasy, 

and significant amounts of heroin and methamphetamine. 

Likewise, we removed about 47,000 illegal aliens from the northern border region, roughly half of whom were criminal offenders. 

We are able to pursue our success in all of these areas due to 

our partnerships and initiatives with other law enforcement agencies. We maintain the largest law enforcement footprint of any U.S. 

agency in Canada, with four attache and assistant attache offices. 

In these offices, we not only coordinate enforcement efforts with 

Canadian law enforcement, we also run a visa security program to 

add an additional layer of vetting to the U.S. visas issued by the 

State Department. 

Our interagency partnerships along the northern border are principally the integrated border enforcement teams, the IBETs, and 

the Border Enforcement Security Task Forces, or BESTs. We now 

have 21 Border Enforcement Task forces and I thank Congress for 

the tremendous support they have received to date. 

The strength of the BEST task force model is that it involves the 

permanently collocated investigative task forces of Federal, state, 

local and foreign law enforcement agencies. We actually have crossdesignated Canadian law enforcement officers working on our side 

of the border. They are located immediately on the border and specifically target cross-border crime. And I want to note that CBP is 

our principal and essential partner in every single one of them. 

We have three BEST teams operating on the northern border, 

one in Blaine, one in Detroit, and one in Buffalo; and, as you know, 

we will be establishing a new BEST in Massena, New York. And, 

Mr. Chairman, I thank you for the significant support you have 

given us on that score. 

I just want to highlight why this works well, and there is a particular example in my written remarks. But on December 15, 2010, 

a Canadian citizen tried to enter the United States via the Detroit 

Ambassador Bridge. CBP officers working for the Commissioner 

discovered suspected marijuana in the vehicle and contacted ICE. 

We responded with our BEST team. We quickly arranged for the 

arrested driver to cooperate. We engaged in a controlled delivery to 

Troy, Michigan. This included local law enforcement officers from 

Troy, Trenton and Detroit, Michigan. 

10 

We ultimately delivered the narcotics or the marijuana in question. We arrested the boyfriend. We turned right around and, working with the Canadian members of the same BEST task force, executed two search warrants in Canada, and the Canadians arrested 

another two individuals. All four individuals were prosecuted. 

None of this would have been able to have occurred had we not 

all been sitting together and able to move in very quick time, and 

that is why BEST works. 

ICE’s great strength is that it has a strong presence on the border, in the interior and overseas. This allows the Agency to attack 

and penetrate organized cross-border crime at all stages. And when 

you couple it with CBP’s impressive powers of inspection, surveillance and interdiction, the combination proves to be a strong force 

in favor of border security and the sound management of the flows 

of goods and people to and from the United States. 

Obviously, resources are a challenge, as Senator Cornyn has 

noted. There are many and varied threats facing CBP and ICE 

every day, but we have got a tremendous workforce out there every 

day trying to do the right thing. 

I would close, again, with my condolences to Commissioner 

Bersin for the two Border Patrol agents lost in Gila Bend. We, as 

the members of the Committee know, just lost a special agent in 

Mexico to the cartels. And so we feel the pain that CBP is going 

through. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Morton appears as a submission 

for the record.] 

Senator SCHUMER. Thank you, Mr. Morton. 

My first question is for Mr. Bersin. As you know, we have had 

a major problem on the northern border with the smuggling of 

drugs, methamphetamines and ecstasy, as well as marijuana, and 

these drugs are smuggled into the country using low-flying planes. 

On February 10, 2011, I, along with some of my colleagues, sent 

Secretary Napolitano a letter asking that DHS deploy sophisticated 

military radar technology along the northern border to catch lowflying aircraft that would otherwise not be caught with the current 

technology DHS uses. 

At a hearing last month, Secretary Napolitano said she intended 

to improve our ability to catch low-flying aircraft by integrating the 

military radar feeds that Canada uses with our own AMOC. 

When do you think the integration of the Canadian radar fees 

into the AMOC, the American center, will be up and running? 

Commissioner BERSIN. Mr. Chairman, we expect that the 22 Canadian radar fees will be sent to the Air and Marine Operations 

Center, the AMOC, by the third quarter, November 2011. 

Senator SCHUMER. Great. That is very good news. Thank you. I 

appreciate hearing that. I don’t have to say anymore. You have 

done very well on that question. 

A positive aspect of the GAO’s northern border report with its 

statement that to address vulnerabilities related to insufficient 

staff and resources, DHS issued 3-year grants to tribal nations and 

state and local governments under Operation Stonegarden to augment Border Patrol personnel and resources for patrolling the land 

and border. 

11 

Now, despite the benefits that Operation Stonegarden has had in 

improving security along the border, the Administration did not request Stonegarden funds for the northern border and limited its request to $50 million for the southern border. 

It appears that the House appropriations bill calls for $55 million 

to be allocated for Stonegarden. If we indeed can maintain the $5 

million of extra funding in the appropriations process, can you commit that that extra money, not taking away from my friends on the 

southern border, will be used to keep Stonegarden going on the 

northern border? 

Commissioner BERSIN. Absolutely. I thought when you started, 

Senator, that I wouldn’t be able to do so well on this question. But 

as framed, there is no question but that Operation Stonegarden 

has considerable benefits in terms of the link between the Border 

Patrol and the state, local and tribal law enforcement. 

It works well in the south, it works well in the north, and we 

will employ whatever resources are provided. 

Senator SCHUMER. If the extra $5 million stays, it would go to 

the northern border. 

Commissioner BERSIN. If it is on top of the money that has been 

allocated, yes, sir. 

Senator SCHUMER. All right. Batting two for two. Wish you were 

playing for the Yankees against the Red Sox this weekend. 

In early January, we were successful in passing the Northern 

Border Counter-Narcotics Strategy Act. This law requires, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, to develop a comprehensive, integrated, counter-narcotics strategy for all agencies 

along the border. 

I can report that ONDCP has told my staff this strategy will be 

done by July 4. An important part of that strategy will be the operations integration center in Detroit. 

The center will provide a centralized location to gather, analyze 

and disseminate operational and strategic data from all the Federal, state, local, tribal and Canadian law enforcement in the Great 

Lakes region. 

Would DHS benefit from opening a similar operations integration 

center in the eastern part of the northern border, preferably in 

New York? Now that the Chairman is gone, I can certainly say 

that. 

Commissioner BERSIN. Senator, as you know, ONDCP is in the 

process of completing the northern border counter-narcotics strategy, and you are correct that the fusion center, the operation integration center in Selfridge in Michigan is a highlighted portion. It 

is a proven, tried and tested technique of law enforcement, the kind 

of fusion that Secretary Morton referred to in the context of the 

BESTs work whenever put officers together. 

So without prejudging where that center would be located, we 

certainly endorse the notion of continuing integration along those 

lines. 

Senator SCHUMER. Great. That is good news, too. Thank you. 

Finally, for you, I sent a letter on April 14 asking you to take 

action addressing delays in train travel between the Quebec-New 

York corridor, as incoming trains to the U.S. are stopped at our 

12 

border for up to 2 hours to complete the clearance and screening 

process for passengers on board. 

Can we count on you to speed up the trains between Quebec and 

New York? 

Commissioner BERSIN. As you know, we have in place, between 

Canada and the United States in the Pacific Northwest corridor, 

pre-clearance both for air traffic, which we also have on the east 

cost, but also with regard to rail traffic. 

Senator, we are happy to continue to explore those options in the 

Montreal-New York corridor. There is a major difference, though, 

which is that there are interim stops between Montreal and New 

York in a way that is not the case between Vancouver and Seattle. 

But we are committed to continuing to explore with you this notion of expediting that local traffic. 

Senator SCHUMER. And you are working with Amtrak to try— 

knowing the differences between the west coast and us, to try and 

work that out. 

Commissioner BERSIN. Yes, sir. 

Senator SCHUMER. Because it is a real impediment. Thank you. 

I am confident that if you work with Amtrak, you can. 

My final question. In Western New York, we have two bridges. 

They are the Peace Bridge and the Lewiston Bridge and the 

Queenstown Bridge, which are, respectively, the third and fourth 

busiest commercial crossings in the Nation, handling $30 billion in 

commerce between the U.S. and Canada. 

We have been getting a lot of complaints from our business leaders about the amount of time it is taking for commercial traffic to 

enter the U.S. from Canada. Is there something you can do to expedite commercial traffic to the U.S. from Canada, such as prescreening commercial vehicles on the bridges? 

Commissioner BERSIN. Yes. We are working closely in the wake 

of President Obama and Prime Minister Harper’s Beyond the Border statement. We have a very deep relationship of cooperation 

with CBSA, Canadian Border Services Agency, and one of the 

things we are exploring with them is the notion of pre-inspection, 

the concept that we could separate out trusted shippers and trusted shipments, even in advance of them coming to the port of entry 

and, therefore, permitting them to be released without having to go 

through the ordinary port of entry process. 

That is a matter that we are working on and hope to present a 

pilot in the not too distant future. 

Senator SCHUMER. Now, the high risk is a good step and I am 

glad you are doing it, but that is only about 5 to 10 percent of our 

commercial truck traffic on these bridges. 

Will you commit to working your Canadian counterparts to see 

that all commercial trucks bound for the U.S. get pre-cleared in 

Canada? I know you cannot snap your fingers and do that, but try 

and get that—is that a goal of the Department? 

Commissioner BERSIN. As far as practicable, the notion of segmenting out trusted traffic is very critical to heightening the security profile. I doubt and am certain we will never reach 100 percent 

level, but we certainly can start down the path of segmenting traffic based on high risk or low risk. 

13 

Senator SCHUMER. With the indulgence of my colleagues, I will 

just ask one quick question of Mr. Morton. 

One of the most effective things that ICE does is the Border Enforcement Security Task Force teams it operates. They consist of 

personnel from ICE, Customs and Border, and police from local Indian tribes. 

I was very pleased to see that last week that ICE is forming one 

of these BEST teams in Massena. Given what is at stake, I would 

like to see this team up and running as soon as possible. 

You know the problems we have had on the border. When do you 

think the BEST team in Massena will be up and running? 

Mr. MORTON. Mr. Chairman, I think the BEST team will be up 

and running by the end of this fiscal year, in October. 

Senator SCHUMER. Great. That is good, good news. 

Senator Cornyn. 

Thank you both. 

Senator CORNYN. Commissioner Bersin, this is not a zero sum 

game, even though Senator Schumer and I are having some goodnatured competition in terms of the attention your agency gives to 

the northern border versus the southern border. 

This is all a Federal responsibility. I know you know that. We 

know that. But I would just like to ask you, in terms of the number 

of people that are detained coming illegally across the northern 

border, how does that compare to the 445,000 that were detained 

at the southern border, 59,000 of whom came from countries other 

than Mexico last year? 

Commissioner BERSIN. It is a small, small fraction. We detained 

and arrested 6,000 people on the northern border. But, Senator, I 

know, because you referred to it in your opening remarks, that 

does not mean that we do not face significant threats. 

In fact, in many ways, in terms of the terrorist threat, it is commonly accepted that the more significant threat, because of the 

population and because of certain relationships with Canada, people who can enter Canada and then come across our bridges into 

the United States, of course—and I know you know this—we have 

to maintain a very high security profile. 

Because of the fact that we do not share no-fly information and 

the Canadians will not, we are, more than we would like, confronted with the fact where a no-fly has entered Canada and then 

is arrested coming across one of our bridges into the United States. 

So I take your point. The number is a very small fraction, but 

it still remains the kind of threat that requires our attention. 

Senator CORNYN. I am sure that is true. But I know and you 

know that the 59,000 people who come through Mexico into the 

United States from all over the world, including some of those 

countries that are state sponsors of terrorism—and you know, as 

I know, that some organizations that finance organizations in the 

Middle East that are committed to jihad exist in South America. 

So we are not in a zero sum game here. I am just trying to document here the magnitude of the threat throughout the country and 

why I am absolutely committed to working with our colleagues to 

try to make sure you get the resources you need in order to do your 

job, because it is impossible for you to do your job given the current 

level of resources, in my view. 

14 

You appropriately noted the importance of infrastructure and 

staffing at the border ports of entry. I have introduced a bill called 

the Emergency Port of Entry Personnel and Infrastructure Funding 

Act of 2009. As I have said the bill would authorize $6 billion over 

6 years for additional CBP officers at our ports, modernization of 

our current land ports of entry, and construction of new ports at 

the southern and northern borders. 

Are you familiar with that legislation? 

Commissioner BERSIN. Yes, sir. 

Senator CORNYN. Will the Administration support the bill? 

Commissioner BERSIN. That, as you know, Senator, going forward, is a determination not in the hands of CBP, but rather in 

OMB. We have received support in terms of additional CBPOs, but 

I do not think that anyone denies the fact that with regard to staffing the ports of entry, that we need to increase CBPOs. 

We opened up, as you know, three ports of entry for the first 

time in 10 years on the southern border, two of them in Texas, in 

Anzalduas and Donna, and we did receive 300 additional CBPOs 

on top of the 250 CBPOs in the southwest supplemental. 

So that helps, but I take your point. 

Senator CORNYN. The GAO cites limited equipment, technology 

and infrastructure as a major challenge to stopping money and 

guns heading south. As we all know, the bulk cash that goes south 

is an integral part of the illegal drug transaction. If we can find 

a way to stop the money, then we can go a long way in defeating 

the cartels. 

For example, ATF officers at the U.S.-Mexico border have indicated that one of their challenges in intercepting illegal firearms 

heading south is the ability to provide vehicle information to CBP 

officers on a timely basis. 

According to the GAO, currently, license plate readers are available for only 48 out of 118 outbound lanes on the southwest border 

and none have been installed—none—in the 179 outbound lanes on 

the northern border. 

When will CBP have all ports of entry equipped with license 

plate readers? 

Commissioner BERSIN. Senator Cornyn, I cannot give you a definite date on which we will have all lanes completed with regard to 

LPRs. We accept the validity of the technology and we have, as you 

have noted, expanded it dramatically from where it was. 

We have, again, as you know, particularly in the bridges in 

Texas, difficulty in the traffic and the road infrastructures leading 

into the ports of entry, which make it very difficult to place the 

LPRs in a way that permit us to operate. 

We are working very hard on the issue and, as you know, southbound inspections are a critical dimension of our work in ways that 

were not true in the past. We are cooperating very much with ICE, 

as well as with state and local law enforcement to do those inspections, but we have a lot more work to do, to be sure. 

Senator CORNYN. The Chairman has graciously allowed me to 

ask one more question, even though my time is up, because I am 

going to have to leave to go to another meeting. 

But, Mr. Morton, when we asked about the policy of the DHS 

with regard to dismissing cases against criminal aliens, is the DHS 

15 

aware that immigration courts are dismissing cases involving 

criminals due to backlogs? 

Mr. MORTON. I am not aware of any DOJ policy dismissing criminal aliens due to backlogs. No, sir. 

Senator CORNYN. I’m sorry. DHS. 

Mr. MORTON. And I am not aware of a DHS policy with regard 

to dismissing criminal aliens due to backlogs. The only policy that 

I am aware of, Senator, is the policy to terminate those cases in 

which someone is the likely recipient of a green card in proceedings 

and, obviously, if they are going to be given a benefit by the Department of Justice in the form of permanent residence, we do not 

want to, at the same time, waste government resources on those 

cases. 

Senator CORNYN. So just to clarify, there is a DHS policy distinguishing between which aliens that have been detained and are at 

law enforcement facilities, which cases will be dismissed, and 

which cases will not be dismissed. 

Mr. MORTON. Senator, I am not aware of any policy in terms of 

dismissal. There is very much a policy with regard to priorities and 

where we use our resources. 

I will tell you, as the head of the Agency, however, criminal offenders are our highest priority and this year I think you will see 

for the first time in the Agency’s history, we will remove more 

criminal offenders than non-criminal offenders. 

So, again, if there is a specific concern you have, I would ask that 

perhaps our staffs talk, because I would be concerned by a policy 

that we are dismissing the case—immigration removal cases of 

known criminal offenders. 

Senator CORNYN. We will follow-up with you. Thank you very 

much. 

Senator SCHUMER. Thank you, Senator Cornyn. 

Now, Chairman Leahy. 

Chairman LEAHY. Thank you. I do not want to sound parochial, 

but I do have a few. We have talked about the border crossing and 

talked about pre-screening. 

With the question of Amtrak, having trains come down through 

Vermont and from Canada or vice versa, the thing that stops it 

now is the passenger screening issue. 

Could you support the creation of a pre-clearance facility at a 

train station, say, in Montreal, very similar to the kind of preclearance facilities that you have in a lot of our foreign airports? 

Commissioner BERSIN. Senator Leahy, as I indicated, we are exploring with CBSA, the Canadian Border Services Agency, the way 

in which we can expedite this pre-clearance. 

The difficulty in the Montreal-Vermont-New York corridor is that 

unlike Vancouver-Seattle, there are many stops along the way, 

which complicates the notion of pre-clearance, because you cannot 

then segment the traffic when it arrives in New York. 

But we are certainly willing to explore the options and will continue to work with you and your staff and with Amtrak to see how 

we can manage the problem better. 

Chairman LEAHY. Well, I appreciate that. Next week, there is a 

meeting, I believe. The Governor of Vermont, Amtrak, and Canadian officials are meeting in Vermont, in Burlington, for a crossVerDate Nov 24 2008 11:36 Feb 24, 2012 Jkt 072807 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\GPO\HEARINGS\72807.TXT SJUD1 PsN: CMORC
16 

border conference and I would encourage your Agency to send a 

representative to that conference. 

Commissioner BERSIN. I will look and be in touch with Mr. 

Weeks, who heads up the CBPOs, and with Chief Fisher, who you 

know well, to see if the chief will attend along with the DFO. 

Chairman LEAHY. That would be very helpful. 

Let me ask you about another question which I have raised with 

Secretary Napolitano. You have a checkpoint used periodically on 

Interstate 91. It is about an hour and a half drive from—by interstate, it is about an hour and a half or more drive from the northwest crossings from Canada into Vermont. It is about a 3-hour 

drive from the northeast crossing from Canada by interstate into 

Vermont. 

I cannot tell you the number of complaints I get by Vermonters 

who get stopped there and have proof demanded of them that they 

are American citizens. These are people that probably have lived, 

as I have, in Vermont their whole life. 

They are wondering why there is all this, the guns, the uniforms, 

the flashing lights, everything, when there are half a dozen parallel 

roads, if somebody was really inclined to do something, they would 

just drive down one of the two-lane roads where there are no stops, 

and especially something so far from the border. 

I get questions like, ‘‘Do you guys have so much money you have 

got to find a place to spend it? ’’ And in one case, somebody showed 

her Vermont driver’s license, and was driving a Vermont registered 

car, was detained for some time, and told she had to show her proof 

of citizenship. 

In this case, we are a state probably 97 percent white and she 

did not fit that profile, and it made my blood boil to hear her story. 

So are you starting to see whether this thing really makes sense? 

Commissioner BERSIN. Senator Leahy, checkpoints have been a 

standard feature of Border Patrol strategy and tactics and are 

being applied on the northern border as we expand the presence 

there. 

The notion is—— 

Chairman LEAHY. It is a long way from the border. 

Commissioner BERSIN. Well, the notion is layered security, which 

is the theory of action of Border Patrol activity throughout. But I 

understand that when it occurs, as it is occurring now in the north 

from Washington to Maine, that citizens are questioning it and 

wondering what is this presence and why does it have to happen 

at a space and a time removed from the border. 

We need to have Chief Fisher actually hold forums throughout 

Vermont, need to meet with the community, explain what the theory of action is, reach out, listen to people’s complaints, and explain 

why they do what they do. 

That has been the pattern that I trust will produce more understanding, if not less opposition immediately on the part of the citizens of Vermont. 

Chairman LEAHY. Well, I kind of know how they feel. A number 

of years ago, and this was not something recent, but I drive to 

Vermont once or twice a year. Normally, I would fly, but during the 

August break, I drive. About halfway down the state, there is a 

very old crossing that crosses over into New York. I have crossed 

17 

that way, I have come down through the Adirondacks, which is a 

very pretty area. 

Senator SCHUMER. You are always welcome, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman LEAHY. Thank you. And we got stopped at one of 

these. There was a family from Montreal. They were on their way 

actually to Florida, because I had asked them, and they were having to take all their suitcases out and the man came up and he 

said, ‘‘Pull your car over there.’’ 

I asked, ‘‘Why?’’ He said, ‘‘We have to prove you are a citizen.’’ 

I said, ‘‘Well, what is your authority?’’ And he pointed to his 

holstered weapon and said, ‘‘That is all the authority I need.’’ 

Now, that struck me as not the best way to win friends and influence people. I asked if he had a supervisor, who actually came 

around the car at that point and looked at my license plate. It is 

one, just the number one. 

We are a small state. We do not have many cars. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman LEAHY. But they were looking at that and I could still 

see him kind of—he came over, well, that is fine. And, obviously, 

I could prove my citizenship, but I just thought this was unfortunate. 

Now, at that time, I understand this was some time ago, long before you were there. Steps were taken, some re-training was done 

of the people involved. But I want our borders to be secure. 

But we are such a wonderful country, I want us all to be welcoming to people. I do not want, at a time, again, when we are trying to attract people, businesses, tourists, everything else to come 

from other parts of the world, I want them to feel welcome here, 

just as other countries make us feel welcome. 

Commissioner BERSIN. We are completely in agreement with 

that. And while that incident is unfortunate and regrettable, it also 

is—— 

Chairman LEAHY. A long time ago. 

Commissioner BERSIN. It also points out the need for us, as you 

say, as we evolve into what I hope will become a premier law enforcement agency, that customer satisfaction and professionalism 

are required. We can be tough and fair and welcoming all at the 

same time. 

Chairman LEAHY. I cross our borders all the time. I did a few 

weeks ago coming through—I had been scuba diving down in the 

Caribbean and came through Puerto Rico. The people could not 

have been more professional and nicer. 

I was in line with everybody else. They were being very nice. 

They had no idea who I was or anything else. They just were very, 

very nice, and I want to compliment them on that. 

Commissioner BERSIN. Senator, I hope you will consider becoming a member of Global Entry. It is the trusted traveler program, 

you bypass the line. 

Chairman LEAHY. I actually prefer just getting in line with everybody else just to see how it goes. So thank you. 

Commissioner BERSIN. Thank you. 

Senator SCHUMER. Thank you, and thanks for coming, Mr. Chairman. 

18 

Senator Grassley’s entire statement will be read into the record, 

and he is on. 

[The prepared statement of Senator Grassley appears as a submission for the record.] 

Senator GRASSLEY. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 

Director Bersin, on April 13, you responded to two letters that 

I sent you. You responded by citing Privacy Act considerations and 

failed to provide basic answers to questions. 

I realize that this is a cut-and-paste response that we get from 

too many administration bureaucracies when they do not want to 

answer inquiries from Congress. 

However, with a Border Patrol agent dead, this kind of response 

is unacceptable. There are serious questions that need to be answered, especially in light of the fact that two of the guns which 

were recovered at the crime scene at Border Patrol Agent Brian 

Terry’s death were part of an operation conducted by ATF called 

Operation Fast and Furious. 

So, Mr. Bersin, did Customs and Border Protection agents ever 

stop any suspects with weapons near the border, but were instructed by ATF or the U.S. Attorney’s Office to let them go? 

Commissioner BERSIN. Senator, no. I have never heard of that allegation. I have not received any report from within CBP in which 

that request was made, let alone granted. And as you know, with 

regard to that letter, the two questions that you focused on, there 

were very straightforward answers, which is, one, Brian Terry, our 

agent who died in the canyons west of Nogales on that December 

night, as all of his colleagues were fully armed and prepared to use 

force; and, second, that there is no requirement in CBP that less 

than lethal weapons be used in advance of defending yourself. 

When someone points a gun at you, under our rules of force, you 

are entitled to kill that person, and they were so authorized and 

prepared to act. 

With regard to the Fast and Furious, I am not the agency who 

is conducting that investigation. But with regard to your specific 

question, I have no information nor have I ever received any report 

to that effect, sir. 

Senator GRASSLEY. Could you tell me how you feel about the fact 

that another agency’s decision to put hundreds of guns into the 

hands of criminals on both sides of the border may have contributed to the death of Brian Terry? 

Commissioner BERSIN. Senator, I am not going to condemn ATF 

on the basis of that generalized statement. I do not believe that it 

accurately depicts what has been investigated. 

So, no, sir, I cannot subscribe to that statement as framed. 

Senator GRASSLEY. Well, let me tell you, you may not feel comfortable in answering the question, but there is enough evidence 

out there that I have in documents that have come to me clandestinely to prove that this is not something that is hypothetical, that 

this is a real sad situation. 

But I will go on and ask another question. The inability to secure 

our northern border leaves our country at a distinct disadvantage. 

Criminals can enjoy the freedom to transport illegal narcotics into 

the United States and, also, to transport—well, in the process, terrorists can even gain entry to our country. 

19 

The U.S. GAO report describes an inadequate response by the 

Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Interior, and 

the U.S. Department of Agriculture toward coordinating efforts at 

securing the border. 

So, Mr. Bersin, Border Patrol has indicated that they are only 

able to secure within acceptable levels, and those are the words of 

the report, 69 of the nearly 4,000 northern border miles between 

Washington and Maine. 

Do you believe that securing less than 2 percent of the northern 

border is acceptable? 

Commissioner BERSIN. Senator, that mischaracterizes, respectfully, what the GAO concluded and how we define border security. 

The notion of operational control is a concept that was utilized, 

for the most part, on the southern border. It had to do with the 

tactical deployment of Border Patrol agents during a period in 

which we doubled the size of the Border Patrol from 2004–2010, 

and this was used on a sector-by-sector basis to determine mile-bymile along the border how to deploy those agents. 

We discussed that with Mr. Stana and the GAO and are working 

to correct the notion that operational control as utilized there is 

what is being used to measure border security across the northern 

or southern border. 

With regard to the USDA and the DOI, actually, that is a good 

news story, Senator. 

Senator GRASSLEY. Before you answer that, let me ask a specific 

question, because I think you are starting to answer it, but let me 

ask. 

The GAO report consistently describes a failure to share intelligence and develop joint budget requests or strategies to address 

these threats. Can you describe why it is so difficult for agencies 

to effectively communicate and coordinate and intelligence, along 

with whatever else you were going to say? 

Commissioner BERSIN. Well, with regard to intelligence-sharing, 

actually, we are considerably further ahead—in fact, leagues ahead 

of where we were when I left Federal service at the end of the 

1990s. 

Senator GRASSLEY. So you are saying that GAO is wrong on that 

point. 

Commissioner BERSIN. I am saying the GAO had pointed out specifically, if I am following your reference, that there were issues between the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on the northern border. 

I have actually—when I saw that report, Director Morton and I 

have discussed it and we agreed that we have not gotten the specifics and have asked that the GAO be very specific about the offices in which that lack of communication has taken place. 

The BESTs, as Director Morton indicated in his opening remarks, and the IBETs, which are another form of communicationsharing and coalition-building involving Canadians, as well as 

American law enforcement, actually provides for better information-sharing than we have had. 

It is not to say that we cannot improve it. We always can strive 

to do that, Senator. 

20 

Senator GRASSLEY. Let me ask Mr. Morton a question. In June 

of 2010, the union representing ICE agents released a letter announcing a unanimous, ‘‘vote of no confidence’’ for ICE leadership. 

The union’s letter accused Assistant Secretary Morton and his command staff of, ‘‘misleading the American public.’’ 

Agents claimed that the ICE leadership spent more time campaigning for immigration reform as opposed to enforcing the Agency’s, ‘‘core mission of enforcing U.S. immigration laws and providing for public safety.’’ 

The letter also stated that, ‘‘ICE has virtually no consistent national policy. As a result, the Agency’s lack of adequate direction 

and material infrastructure.’’ ICE agents also described how criminal aliens, ‘‘bragged to ICE officers that they are taking advantage 

of the broken immigration system and will be back in the United 

States within days to commit crimes.’ 

It is unfortunate that agents responsible for carrying out our immigration laws feel that the Agency is politicizing the issue and 

abandoning the Agency’s core responsibility to the American people. 

So, Mr. Morton, how have you addressed the complaints of your 

agents since issuing a no confidence letter last June? 

Mr. MORTON. Well, a few things, Senator. First, as you may 

know, I was a career Federal prosecutor, before I came to this job, 

and spent my entire professional career in law enforcement. 

Second, we have demonstrated quite, I think, clearly that the enforcement activities of the Agency when it comes to immigration 

enforcement, and that is half of what we do, is at an all-time high. 

There has never been a director of the Agency that has presided 

over a larger number of removals from the United States. 

When it comes to criminal offenders, there is no question that 

our record is, I think, a solid one for the first time in the Agency’s 

history. 

We, this year, will pass 50 percent of the removals from the 

United States will be of people with a crime. 

Just to give you some sense of it, the last fiscal year of the last 

Administration, the number of criminal offenders was at about 35 

percent of our overall removals. That is now at 50 percent under 

my leadership and the number of removals from the country, again, 

has never been higher. 

So I reject any suggestion that the Agency’s enforcement efforts 

when it comes to immigration enforcement have been reduced and, 

obviously, we work within the appropriations and the resources 

that we have. 

I issued the first civil enforcement priorities memo the Agency 

has had, directing us to focus first and foremost on criminal offenders, second on border security. 

Our coordination with CBP has never been stronger and, in fact, 

the Commissioner and I are discussing further ways to latch CBP 

and ICE at the hip to ensure that border security is high as it possibly can be. 

And, finally, we spend a lot of time on people who game the system. The number of criminal prosecutions for illegal reentry is, 

again, an all-time high. We have never prosecuted more people for 

illegal reentry. 

21 

The Commissioner and I are both a firm believer in making sure 

that there are consequences for people who violate the law along 

the border, and the results sort of speak for themselves. 

Senator GRASSLEY. Madam Chairman, since I used 1 minute 

longer than Senator Leahy did, I will—because we have all gone 

well over the 5 minutes, I will put just a statement in the record 

in response that basically the Washington Post editorial saying that 

as far as this recordkeeping is concerned, that the Agency has 

cooked the books on the numbers. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR [presiding.] Very good. That will be included. 

[The article appears as a submission for the record.] 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. I had some questions on some different topics here, but I want to just start with a general question. 

I head up the Senate side of the U.S.-Canadian Inter parliamentarian Group and am on the Canadian border, and we have a lot 

of work and economic activity with positive tourism with Canada 

from Minnesota. 

And I wanted to hear more about the work that you do with the 

Canada, the joint programs to combat terrorism, smuggling, fraud, 

and other crimes against the border. 

I have been at a number of our border crossings and have seen 

some of the good work going on there, and, also, some of the work 

that has been done to try to at least get at some of the problems 

with delays at the border crossings. I just wonder if you could address some of the joint efforts that 

are being made. Commissioner BERSIN. Thank you, Senator. There are three 

major dimensions to the work that we do with both the Canadian 

Border Services Agency, which handles their side of the 122 ports 

of entry, but also with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police between 

the ports of entry. The three areas are information-sharing—we have created, for 

the first time, a series of port committees in which the management of the Canadian side of the border and the U.S. side of the 

border meet regularly to work on common problems of expediting 

flow, as well as securing that flow from north to south and south 

to north. 

The second is, as I mentioned in response to a question from 

Senator Schumer is the notion of pre-inspection, which is the concept of actually pre-inspecting cargo before it gets to the United 

States so that we can expedite its movement after doing the proper 

checks. We see that as a major way of segmenting traffic. Also connected is the harmonization of the Partners in Progress, 

which is the Canadian trusted shipper program, together with our 

Customs and Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, that will permit companies to be jointly validated. We are also working with the Canadians to create a unified approach to trusted travelers. So that, as you know, we have the 

NEXUS program that permits expedited crossing of trusted travelers from north to south and south to north. We, in the last quarter, extended the privilege of Global Entry, which makes that possible in airports to all members of NEXUS. And lastly, we cooperate considerably in terms of intelligencesharing and data-sharing. So I expect that President Portelance, 

22 

who is the head of the CBSA, will be coming to Washington after 

the Canadian cabinet is announced this week or next to pick up 

where we left off before the election, and one of the first items of 

business will be the signing of an agreement that sends a Canadian official to our National targeting center in Herndon on cargo 

and passengers, and we will be sending a CBP officer to the National Risk Assessment Center in Canada. 

So in those three ways, but there are other illustrations, we are 

seeing cooperation as never before in keeping with the border vision issued by Prime Minister Harper and President Obama. Senator KLOBUCHAR. Very good. And I am head of the Subcommittee that includes tourism. So my take on this is a little different than some people as we try to figure out how to make those 

crossings secure, but also simple for people. I think it is really important. We actually have a couple hundred people in Minnesota, I do not 

know if you know this, that have to go through Canada to get to 

their homes and, in fact, only when the ice is frozen over is that 

not true. Then they can snowmobile across the border. So anything that you can keep doing in that vein, as we look at 

tourism as our No. 1 export out of this country, to make that simpler would be helpful. I also just wanted to mention, I think you are aware of this, Senator Franken and I have written letters about this project, but 

there is a city that is applying to be one of the ports of entry, and 

it is Hallock, and they are looking to have the Border Patrol facility. I just wanted to give, again, a good word for that city. They have 

a good police and sheriff’s department. They have an airport that 

is less than two miles away. They are prepared to work to ensure 

that the land is affordable. 

And I think one of the most important things, as you have seen 

the flooding across this country and especially in that part of Minnesota and North Dakota, they are actually 20 feet higher than 

some of the other sites that are looked at and while the other sites 

have been closed off by flooding for part of the year, they have not 

been. And so I hope that is something that you will consider as you 

look at the border facility. And I know Senator Franken feels 

strongly, as well. So I wanted to put in that pitch as you look at 

facilities. 

Another issue I wanted to mention is honey laundering, and I 

know your agencies have been involved in that. At first when you 

say this, people somewhat laugh. Senator Schumer has been involved in this, as well, but in Minnesota, it is real jobs. We are 

sixth in the country for honey. What we find is that producers have been hurt by some activity 

going on in China where they have been mislabeling or trans-shipping honey under the guise of sweetener to avoid paying duties. 

They also have been sending low quality, other countries have been 

doing this. They have been producing honey and then it goes from 

foreign countries that do not have to pay as high of tariffs, and that 

is why they have been unfairly competing. Suddenly, there is a huge boost in honey from a country that 

does not even make it. You know that that is a problem. 

23 

And I know that there is some work being done in terms of the 

FDA looking at establishing a national standard of identity for 

honey, but if you could talk about what progress—I know there 

have been some prosecutions for honey laundering, but what has 

been going on and is there more work that we can do? Commissioner BERSIN. The mislabeling in the source countries is 

a large problem and in the area of honey, actually, we have been 

able to make more progress in concert with Homeland Security Investigations and with the FDA than we have had in other areas, 

notably textiles, although we are working on that, as well. But this is a—there was some very highly publicized investigations and then prosecutions having to do with that, and I think we 

have identified the problem, developed the law enforcement coalitions able to address them, and are on the lookout for honey laundering, as you describe it. Senator KLOBUCHAR. Good. Do you want to add anything, Mr. 

Morton? 

Mr. MORTON. The Commissioner has really summed it up right. 

We have a very close relationship with CBP and we investigater all 

of the honey that they identify as mislabeled. And as the Commissioner noted, we have had some very good successes lately. The one thing I would add is not only do we approach it from 

the perspective of trying to evade customs, duties and unlawfully 

compete with domestic producers, a number of our cases have also 

involved adulterated honey. And so there is a real health and safety issue to it, as well, and we are very concerned about that across 

the board. 

But I know, obviously, of your concerns here and we do actually 

have quite an aggressive effort to investigate honey laundering and 

I expect you will see more of the same in the future. Senator KLOBUCHAR. That is good, because I am going to see all 

the honey people at the Minnesota State Fair in August. So we will 

then track our progress from the last state fair. But we are trying 

to push for this honey standard, which I do not think we have yet 

from the FDA, and then also just increase prosecutions. So I appreciate both of your work in this area. As you know, it 

is a safety concern, but also a job issue for the United States. With that, I do not think there are going to be other Senators 

coming today. I want to thank both of you for being here. You had 

to answer a broad range of questions from counterterrorism to 

honey. So I appreciate that, and I want to thank both of you for 

being here. The record will remain open until Monday, May 23 for further 

testimony and questions. I would like to thank the following individuals and groups for submitting testimony for the record: the National Treasury Employees Union, that is NTEU and New York 

State Assemblywoman Addy Russell. I ask unanimous consent that these statements be inserted into 

the record of this hearing. Without objection, so ordered. [The statements appear as a submission for the record.] 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. And the hearing is now adjourned. [Whereupon, at 11:22 a.m. the Subcommittee was adjourned.] 

[Questions and answers and submissions follow.] 

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