Building the invisible wall: today's Canada-United States border.

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The 8,891 kilometre Canada-United States boundary has long been referred to as the longest undefended border in the world. This border was initially agreed upon in 1783 with the signing of The Definitive Treaty of Peace (Treaty of Paris) between Britain and the United States, and subsequent to the conclusion of War of 1812, reaffirmed with the signing of the Treaty of Peace and Amity between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America (Treaty of Ghent) in 1814. Since 1814 both nations have co-existed in relative peace and enjoyed a strong bilateral trading relationship. Each nation is the other's largest trading partner, jointly share the responsibility for continental defence, and until recently, gave favourable consideration to the other's citizens in relation to border crossing requirements. With the dawn of the new millennium, this vast border was increasingly open to the free flow of people and goods. However, in the aftermath of 9/11, the opening of this border quickly slammed shut.

Since 9/11, the Canada-U.S. border has become a highly monitored, secured and sophisticated boundary. Beginning with the U.S. in March 2003, and followed by Canada in December of the same year, once separate customs, immigration, and agricultural inspection services were amalgamated into a single organization. In the United States the Customs Border Protection (CBP), a sub-bureau of the Department of Homeland Security, is responsible for security along the border, and in Canada the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has this responsibility. Prior to these two agencies being created, the customs services for both countries represented each nation's longest standing government organizations tasked with revenue collection and the initial screening of travellers. Today, the CBP and CBSA represent each nation's frontline of defence against the threat of global terrorism and trans-border crime. Revenue collection has become secondary to security, and travellers are assessed by the level of risk they may pose to national security as opposed to the economic benefit they could provide through tourism or business.

Fortifying the Border

In an attempt to curb the total fortification of the 49th parallel, on December 12th, 2001 Canada and the United States signed the Smart Border Declaration which included a 32-point action plan. The premise of this Declaration was to ensure that the flow of people and goods moving between the two nations was secure, yet also uninhibited. To achieve this, each nation made a commitment to implement new technologies and systems that would streamline the border-crossing process for both individuals and businesses. The final aspect of this program was to increase join enforcement initiatives and the sharing of information. Three of the key elements of this Declaration involved the enhancement of existing and primarily Canadian pre-9/11 border security programs.

The first of these three initiatives was the development of a joint pre-clearance system based on the Canadian CANPASS program. CANPASS members had a sticker applied to their vehicle window so they could bypass normal border crossing lines. These members (who were both Canadian and American) were pre-screened to ensure they had no criminal record or history of customs/immigration infractions. The general premise of the CANPASS program is now evident within the joint NEXUS project. The second initiative involved the expansion of Canada's Integrated Border Enforcement Teams (IBETs). These teams originally consisted of Canadian and American customs, immigration, and police officers who were tasked with combating illegal contraband smuggling between specific points along the border. Today, these teams have expanded to respond along any point of the border on both the Canadian and American sides. Although Canada and the United States have had their national criminal databases linked since the late 1970s, after 9/11 this linkage now includes shared customs, immigration, and national security intelligence records. Eight years after the signing of the Smart Border Declaration it has become apparent that it did nothing to streamline the crossing of the Canada-U.S. border, but rather has resulted in the erection of an invisible wall.

Not since the War of 1812 has the Canada-U.S. border been as militarized and secured as it is today. Crossing the border requires the presentation of a biometric travel document, in-depth questioning by border officials, and in some cases, being photographed and fingerprinted. On the American side, traditionally military technologies are now being used to safeguard the American homeland. The CBP has deployed several Blackhawk helicopters and Predator unmanned aircraft to patrol the Canada-U.S. border and also is utilizing highly sophisticated video surveillance technologies and motion sensors to monitor unauthorized crossings between established checkpoints. Although Canada hasn't implemented military-style systems along its side of the border, for the first time, Canadian officers are armed and all border crossings are now fully guarded. As of 2008, a new agreement has been made to allow joint Canadian and American teams to enforce laws and pursue suspects across the shared Great Lakes.

Further to the multitude of physical security developments along the 49th parallel, several post-9/11 operations, laws, and initiatives have been introduced on both sides. In 2001 the U.S. initiated Operation Green Quest followed by Operation Shield America. Operation Green Quest was a customs-driven initiative to identify and seize the offshore funds of suspected terrorist groups. Operation Shield America, also a customs-driven initiative, was meant to protect the exporting of technologies, equipment, and other American assets to nations suspected of being sympathetic to terrorist groups. Although not targeted at Canadians, these two initial operations in reaction to 9/11 did have an impact on how Canadian banking, commerce, and trans-border trade were conducted. Since that time, Canadians and Canadian companies have been required to register all their U.S. accounts and to declare all American technologies they are importing. These changes to business further evolved in April and September 2002 with the emergence of the Customs- Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C- TPAT) and Free and Secure Trade (FAST) programs. These two programs further restricted the cross-border movement of goods between the two countries, and also resulted in more scrutiny of importers and exporters. According to the Conference Board of Canada's May 10th, 2009 report on Canada-United States trade, the culmination of these American operations and programs in conjunction with the global economic downturn has significantly damaged Canadian exporters and small businesses.

Beginning in 2003 the CBP along with the CBSA have implemented a number of programs meant specifically to monitor, control and assess the risk of individuals crossing the Canada-U.S. border, such as the NEXUS program. The NEXUS program allows for the issuance of a biometric identity card for its members after they have been screened via fingerprints and photographs by both the CBP and CBSA. Using a retinal scanner, NEXUS members can bypass speaking to an officer when crossing the border. In exchange for this convenience, members must submit to an in-depth interview with an officer, provide their photograph, fingerprints, and retinal scan, and are subjected to a criminal and intelligence background check in both Canada and the United States. While the common argument is made, "if you have nothing to hide, why worry," one still must consider that the United States Department of Homeland Security's "no fly" list has been plagued with software issues and administrative errors since its inception in 2001, resulting in thousands of people erroneously being detained at airports out of suspicion that they are possible terrorists.

The Price of an Invisible Border

The formal steps countries have taken to protect their sovereignty have changed considerably in countries such as Canada and the United States. The most far-reaching recent change to the Canada-U.S. border came with the American announcement of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). Under this program travellers into the U.S. are subject to new stringent rules and requirements. Starting in April 2005 and being fully implemented in June 2009, the WHTI makes an end to a once facilitative and amicable border crossing era along the 49th parallel. As of June 2009, every person (including Canadian and American citizens) must present an approved biometric travel document when seeking entry into the United States, and may also be subject to having their photographs and fingerprints analysed. Failure to observe WHTI requirements and American immigration law can result in being refused entry, arrested, detained or even deported.

Aside from the immediate and obvious challenges for Canadians entering into the United States, we are left to wonder whether the objective of the various measures will actually bring about the sense of safety and security each country is striving to attain. Given the push and pull factors of human movement, transnational crime and impact of globalization, it would appear that the price that Canadian and American citizens must pay is high and based on erroneous assumptions of what it means to protect our borders.

Kelly Sundberg and John Winterdyk are with the Department of Justice Studies, Mount Royal College, Calgary, Alberta.