Text 1933, 95 rader
Skriven 2006-08-03 01:48:00 av ROSS SAUER (1:123/140)
Ärende: Homeland "Security?"
============================
Yeah, Department of Homeland "Security."
Gee...I feel so much more secure...NOT!

Border agents fail to spot fake papers By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated 
Press Writer

Wed Aug 2, 8:45 AM ET

Undercover investigators entered the United States using fake documents 
repeatedly this year, including some cases in which Homeland Security 
Department agents didn't ask for identification.

At nine border crossings on the Mexico and Canadian borders, agents 
"never questioned the authenticity of the counterfeit documents," 
according to Government Accountability Office testimony to be released 
Wednesday.

"This vulnerability potentially allows terrorists or others involved in 
criminal activity to pass freely into the United States from Canada or 
Mexico with little or no chance of being detected," concluded the GAO, 
the investigative arm of Congress, in testimony obtained Tuesday by The 
Associated Press.

The findings, to be presented to the Senate Finance Committee, come as 
Congress considers delaying a 2007 deadline requiring passports or a 
small number of previously approved tamperproof ID cards from all who 
enter the United States.

Homeland Security spokesman Jarrod Agen said agents are trained to 
identify false birth certificates, driver's licenses and other 
documents. But he conceded that agents sometimes cannot verify more than 
8,000 different kinds of currently acceptable IDs without significantly 
slowing border traffic.

"This creates a security vulnerability we were hoping to close" with the 
deadline at the end of next year, Agen said.

The GAO probe follows a similar inquiry in 2003 and 2004 when undercover 
investigators crossed unhindered into the United States at least 14 
times using counterfeit drivers' licenses and, in one case, an expired, 
altered U.S. diplomatic passport. During that investigation, however, 
border agents in New York and Florida stopped three undercover officials 
who were using expired and forged passports, drivers' licenses or birth 
certificates.

By comparison, between February and June 2006, 18 GAO investigators 
breezed by border agents at checkpoints in California, Texas, Michigan, 
Idaho, Washington state, and twice each in Arizona and New York. In two 
cases, in Arizona and California, border agents did not ask the 
undercover investigators for any identification.

In a third case, in Texas, investigators offered to show identification, 
a counterfeit Virginia drivers' license. The border agent replied, "OK, 
that would be good," but released the investigators before inspecting 
it, according to the prepared testimony by GAO investigator Gregory D. 
Kutz.

Two of the 9/11 hijackers used fake Virginia residency certificates to 
get valid state ID cards needed to board the planes that flew into the 
World Trade Center. Neither GAO probe specified the location of any 
border checkpoints investigators went through.

The 9/11 Commission called for tougher ID card rules at borders to help 
prevent terrorists from entering the country. Responding, Congress in 
2004 approved requirements for all travelers, including Americans, to 
show passports or a small number of other approved secure documents 
before entering the U.S.

Those requirements are supposed to take effect Dec. 31, 2007. But 
lawmakers from states that border Canada have since rebelled, contending 
the rules could hamper commercial and tourist travel. They are pushing 
to delay the rules by 17 months to ensure Homeland Security has proper 
technology to speed legitimate travel though border checkpoints.

Agen said Homeland Security agents intercepted 75,000 fraudulent 
documents from border travelers last year. The department last month 
arrested a Mexican fugitive suspected of running a counterfeit document 
operation whose fake ID cards have turned up in all 50 states.
___

On the Net:

Government Accountability Office: http://www.gao.gov

Department of Homeland Security: http://www.dhs.gov

Senate Finance Committee: http://finance.senate.gov/

Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press.

From Archae's Roost, Sheboygan, WI

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