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June 20, 2008

Exclusive: The GAO Reports on Border Security…or Lack Thereof

Michael Cutler

The Government Accounting Office (GAO) has issued a report with the not-so-catchy title "BORDER SECURITY: Summary of Covert Tests and Security Assessments for the Senate Committee on Finance, 2003-2007." What's even less appealing than the title is the fact that the study found "numerous border security vulnerabilities, both at ports of entry and at unmanned and unmonitored land border locations between the ports of entry."

Given the dire nature of the multitude of threats confronting the United States today it is absolutely outrageous to think, that as we approach the 7th anniversary of the mosthorrific, precisely coordinated terroristattacks ever carried out on our soil on September 11, 2001, that our nation's borders are not secure.Think about it: the problems with the immigration bureaucracy that the 9/11 Commission showed to have played a major role in the entry of terrorists into our country and their ability to embed themselves in various communities around our country are still not being addressed, even on the most rudimentary level.Is this the same nation that joined the other Alliednations during the Second World War and defeated the Axis nations in under four years?

President John F. Kennedy challenged our nation to achieve greatness. He established the landing of American astronauts on the moon and we attained that objective within the time frame set by President Kennedy.No other nation has yet been able to do what we did nearly four decades ago!

Yet today, the building of a fence on our border andtracking the arrival and departure of aliens who visit asnon-immigrants appear to be goals that are beyond the grasp of a nation that still calls itself a "Super Power!"If we are indeed a "Super Power," will someone please get rid of the Kryptonite that is hobbling us?

Our borders represent little more than a speed bump to the alien smugglers, criminals and potential terrorists and their supporterswho manage to enter our country each and every day.Those borders fail to stopthe smuggling of narcotics by drug cartels that then use their massive, ill-gotten proceeds to buy weapons; conveyances including cars, trucks, boats, submersibles and airplanes; and even corrupt politicians, law enforcement officials and military officials in their home countries.Violent gang memberseasily cross our nation's borders to swell their numbers of members and further their criminal objectives here.Often, members of gangs such as MS-13 work at low-level jobs during the day - bagging groceries at supermarkets and mowing lawns - then join with members of that pernicious gang at night, engaging in gang activities that include extremely violent crime.

The ability of massive numbers of illegal aliens to enter our country also drives down wages, eliminating the prospect of entry level jobs for America's teenagers and others who want to escape the poverty of America's inner cities and other communities and join mainstream economic America.

We hear so much about the "rights" of illegal aliens. Indeed, the "war cry" of the illegal aliens, "Yes we can!" has been picked up by the apparent Democrat candidate for the presidency Barack Obama, who often repeats that phrase along with his audiences wherever he speaks.A day or two ago, Al Gore joinedSen. Obama on stage and among his first words were, "Yes we can!"

I have been a lifelong Democrat, so I am not being political when I ask, where has the Democrat Party gone?Why have they turned their backs on blue collar America?Why have they turned their backs on the America's minorities, taking up the cause of illegal aliens and ignoring the plight of our own citizens in our country?

While senators like Chuck Schumer often hold news conferences at seaports and demand to know why only about 5% of the cargo containers are being inspected for potential weapons of mass destruction, just about none of those same politicians are willing to address our porous borders! Is it somehow more important to stop a ship-borne cargo container containing contraband or a weapon of mass destruction than it is to stop 18 wheeler barreling across our nation's roads, across numerous states, carrying a weapon of mass destruction? And perhaps spewingpathogens or toxins into the environment while at it?(I know of no such threat being discussed, but shouldn't all possibilities be considered?)

Here is one of the most disturbing sentences in the GAO report:

"GAO's work was limited in scope and cannot be projected to represent systemic weaknesses."

What the hell does that statement mean and why was it inserted into the summary?

No manufacturing company examines each and every widget that they manufacture by subjecting it to failure testing.They perform such tests on a random sampling that is supposed to be representative of the production run If enough widgets fail, then it is presumed that there is a critical problem with the manufacturing process.

In reading the glaring failures at the ports of entry and areas between ports of entry that were uncovered by the GAO it is obvious we are standing in the middle of quicksand.If the GAO does not believe that their research can lead to a general sense of how secure we are, why did they do this investigation and report on it at all?

I am sick of the waffling that goes on in our government.I am disgusted with the fuzzy language and fuzzy reasoning where the security of our nation and our citizens are concerned!

You cannot solve a problem until you identify the problem, and I believe the report makes it absolutely clear that our nation faces a clear and present danger from the very agencies that We the People pay to protect us!

I have heard it said that "Work fill the available amount of time."How much more time will it take for our government to act to protect our borders and create a secure immigration system?When will either candidate for the presidency deal with these critical issues?

Family Security Matters Contributing Editor Mike Cutler is a Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies and a recognized authority who addresses the implications of immigration on national security and criminal justice. Feedback: editorialdirector@familysecuritymatters.org.

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