Pubdate: Sat, 08 Jul 2000 Source: Seattle Times (WA) Copyright: 2000 The Seattle Times Company Contact: P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111 Fax: (206) 382-6760 Website: http://www.seattletimes.com/ Author: Susan Gilmore, Seattle Times staff reporter INS REPORT SAYS BORDER FULL OF HOLES A federal report has found that Immigration and Naturalization Service agents along the Canadian border are so overworked, and stations so understaffed, that criminals can practically walk into the U.S. undetected. The border is so porous, the report added, that the INS can't even assess the level of criminal activity. The report was issued by Robert Asbaugh, acting inspector general with the Department of Justice. Asbaugh said he restricted access to the report, published in February, because it "identifies significant and specific gaps in INS's northern border operation and could compromise the safety of (agents) stationed along the northern border." The INS said it agreed with most of Asbaugh's findings and will prepare a plan this year to address the issues. Asbaugh's report found that, between 1993 and 1998, agents along the northern border were 14 times more likely to encounter someone smuggling weapons and nine times more likely to encounter someone smuggling drugs than agents along the southwest border. Yet more than 90 percent of the agency's Border Patrol officers are assigned to nine Border Patrol sectors in the Southwest. The internal report, leaked to the news media, follows a decision by INS to send Washington state's two Border Patrol aircraft to Arizona to help patrol its border. The move was ordered despite a pledge made by INS Commissioner Doris Meissner in December to halt the transfers. Meissner promised to stop the moves unless there was an unforeseen situation, said INS spokeswoman Nicole Chulick, and ". . . this situation (was) unforeseen and critical." She said the pilots and planes, part of Operation Skywatch, are being sent south for the next three months because of the intense Southwest heat wave killing people trying to sneak across the border. In June alone, 18 died in the busy Tucson sector. This year, Border Patrol agents have rescued nearly 900 migrants in the Tucson area, many suffering from dehydration and heat stroke, said the INS. The planes help agents spot people in distress. But the transfer angers Border Patrol agents in the Northwest, who accuse Meissner of going back on her word. "We thought this was over with. We want to stay here and keep the Ressams of the world out," said Keith Olson, president of the Border Patrol agents' union in Blaine, referring to suspected terrorist Ahmed Ressam, who was arrested in Port Angeles in December with a carful of explosives. Such transfers have long been a sore point with local agents, who claim the nation can't afford to have the northern border stations raided for the southern ones. The Justice Department report seems to substantiate their complaints. "We conclude the 311 Border Patrol agents along the northern border sectors cannot adequately patrol the approximately 4,000-mile border with Canada," said Asbaugh in the report. "Shifts with no Border Patrol coverage leave the northern border wide open to criminal activity," the report adds. "These criminals know the times when the fewest (agents) are on duty, and they plan their illegal operations accordingly." Specifically, Asbaugh's report found: At least 70 percent of the cocaine smuggled into Canada each year is destined for the United States. The Strait of Juan de Fuca is an easy avenue for smuggling, yet the Port Angeles Border Patrol station does not have a boat. Heroin from Asia is being shipped to Vancouver for transport to the U.S. There is one Border Patrol agent for every quarter-mile along the Mexican border; along the Canadian border, it's is one agent for every 12.8 miles. Border Patrol agents have long complained about their inability to stop the flow of high-grade, British Columbia marijuana, "BC Bud." Olson said agents at the Blaine border crossing have seized nearly 2,000 pounds of marijuana this year, compared to 1,200 pounds in all of 1999. - --- MAP posted-by: greg