The U.S. Border Patrol’s second-in-command admitted to Congress on Tuesday that the U.S.-Canada border is not secure, an acknowledgment that comes days after Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin disclosed that Iranian nationals were encountered attempting to enter illegally over the northern border.
Border Patrol’s acting deputy chief, Jason Schneider, told House Homeland Security Committee members in a hearing Tuesday afternoon that the 21,000-person federal law enforcement organization did not have full awareness of what is coming over the 5,500 miles of shared boundary between the United States and Canada. However, Schneider insisted that it is spending congressional funding to increase the number of agents nationwide, as well as facilities and resources.
Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS) asked Schneider in a hearing about the northern border and if he believed it could be deemed “secure.”
“No, not right now. We’re getting there, though, sir,” said Schneider. “We are implementing a holistic approach to include increased staffing, infrastructure, technology. We’re close.”
Guest followed up by asking if the Border Patrol had “operational control” of the land between vehicular ports of entry where cars and trucks pass through inspection.
“We have a good understanding. We do not have 100% situational awareness along the 5,500 miles of the northern border, but our agents are out there every day working hard and leveraging technology, leveraging our partnerships with local, state, and federal, and our Canadian partners,” Schneider said.
The U.S.-Canada border is nearly three times the length of the U.S.-Mexico border and includes the shared international boundary between Alaska and Canada. No border wall is in place along the Canadian border.
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Last week, Mullin said the U.S. has seen an “unusual amount of Iranian nationals trying to sneak in through our northern, not southern, border because President Trump’s policies have closed the southern border.”
“Our northern border, we’ve seen arrests go up daily on Iranian nationals,” Mullin said.