Napolitano Takes Hard Line on Border Security

(HS Today – Mickey McCarter)

Different threats to United States require different approaches on U.S. northern and southern borders but border integrity will be enforced, secretary vows Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano promised to work with Canada to develop shared and smart solutions to border security in advance of her first trip to the country but she also vowed first and foremost she would enforce U.S. border laws in exchanges with Canadian representatives in Washington, DC, Tuesday.

“I think if my job is to be a myth-buster, I’m a myth-buster,” Napolitano declared at a forum sponsored by the Border Trade Alliance. “And the myth I’m trying to bust is that there’s no real border between Canada and the United States.

“There’s the closets of friendships, there’s the closest of alliances. There’s the closest of trade relationships. I know that, I respect that,” she said in response to concerns from a Canadian businessman. “But the law says there’s a border and certain things have to be done at the border. And the fact of the matter is that Canada allows people into its country that we do not allow into ours. And that’s why you have to have a border. And you have to have a border policy that makes sense.”

Napolitano told Canadian lawmakers and business representatives alike that she would work with the Canadian government to address shared concerns over the thickening of the border--or putting in place security measures that slow the flow of legitimate cargo and travelers. Read more here.

The transcript of Ms Napolitano’s April 20 interview with CBC’s Neil Macdonald is on the CBC website at the CBC website.