[W]ASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security has announced a new plan outlining a “strengthened” security strategy along the U.S.-Canada border.
The 24-page plan, released Tuesday, sets goals for approaching enforcement of the northern border.
Border Patrol in Vermont said Wednesday it is not aware of any specific plans to increase equipment or manpower at this point as a result of the new strategy.
The proposal comes as tensions between the leaders of the two countries reached new heights. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have been at odds since the Trump administration abruptly imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and other countries earlier this month.
The new strategy refers to the United States and Canada as “two friendly nations” with an established history of ties. The outline proposes to balance legal trade and travel while cracking down on illicit cross-border traffic.
While the document calls the northern boundary “an area of limited threat” compared to the southern border, it also points to security concerns.
The re-evaluation of northern border security is part of a regular process to assess the threats along the boundary.
The new strategy identifies drug trafficking as the most dangerous threat to public safety — the conclusion of a report on the northern border last year.
There is also a potential threat from “homegrown violent extremists” from Canada, who may not be on the American terrorist watch list. Those people could travel to the United States through a border checkpoint without detection, according to the report.
The document proposes enhancing security along the border through more use of technology like remote sensors, increasing private-public partnerships to improve sharing of information, and more.
A spokesperson for DHS said that though the plan maintains the goals of the first northern border strategy outline, which was released in 2012, it expands on them.
DHS notified Canada in advance that the United States was updating its approach to the border, according to the spokesperson.
The new strategy is part of a process that will allow DHS to evaluate the needs for investments along the border.
Brad Brant, special operations supervisor in Border Patrol’s Swanton sector, said Wednesday that the sector has not been notified of any specific changes that would change operations in the region.
The sector is responsible for securing segments of the border between ports of entry in New Hampshire, Vermont and part of upstate New York.
There are no details so far for installing new technology or bringing additional agents to the sector as a result of the strategy.
Brant said the department is already in the process of increasing the number of agents responsible for the 295 miles of border. Some 300 people, including agents and other administrative staff, worked in the sector in 2016.
More details will be released in 180 days, when DHS puts out an implementation plan for the new strategy.
