The Border Since 9-11

(09/09/11) In the years since the September 11 attacks, life has changed along the U.S. - Canadian border. What used to be an informal crossing, has become militarized, and its changed the lives and expectations of people who live nearby. Julie Grant takes a look back at some of ways life has changed along the border, and whether it's making Americans safer. more

(08/19/11) It's been a year of uncertainty for boaters along the St. Lawrence River. The U.S.-Canada border snakes down the St. Lawrence through the Thousand Islands past Massena, NY. When Canadian border agents seized an American fishing boat earlier this season, they upset a long held understanding of U.S. boaters. Roy Anderson hadn't docked or anchored. He had simply drifted across the international border.

Canadian border agents said Anderson hadn't checked in at a port of entry. They forced him to pay $1000 or have his boat seized. American boaters were shocked. They didn't know they needed to check in with Canada when drifting.

Anderson has since gotten most of his money back from the Canadian government. And politicians on both sides of the border are trying to provide some clarity about what is and isn't OK. Charter boat captains hope something can be done. They say the dispute is bad for business. Julie Grant went to Clayton to see firsthand the challenges of boating the border. more

(05/18/11) Sen.Chuck Schumer says Homeland Security will begin tapping into Canadian military radar later this year to detect low-flying aircraft used to smuggle drugs from Canada into the United States.

Schumer also says a border security task force of several U.S. and Canadian agencies will be established in Massena by October. At a hearing he chaired in Washington yesterday, New York's senior senator questioned Department of Homeland Security officials about new initiatives to balance commerce with fighting drug trafficking. Ryan Morden has more from Washington. more

(09/17/10) Across the North Country, border patrol road checkpoints where agents stop cars and ask passengers their citizenship have become a part of daily life. Today we have a story about another step in the creeping influence of homeland security inside the border.

It's now become commonplace for federal agents to board buses and trains across Upstate New York and ask passengers for proof of citizenship. The checks are sweeping up some drugs and illegal immigrants, but also people who are here legally. David Sommerstein reports. more

(09/14/10) Last week, the American Civil Liberties Union and two other groups filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security over its searches of electronic devices on the US-Canada border.

The government argues that it has the authority to search the contents of laptops, PDAs, and other electronic devices in the same way that they would search a briefcase or backpack. That means they don't need a warrant and they don't need probable cause. The ACLU says the government searches thousands of computers every year.

Part of the case is based on the experience of Pascal Abidor, an American from New York City who studies at McGill University in Montreal. He was detained at the border crossing north of Plattsburgh in May while traveling home to visit his mother. He says border agents then confiscated his computer.

"They asked everything about my life and about my interests," Abidor says. "Why I'm interested in Islam, why I traveled to the Middle East."

According to Abidor, DHS scrutinized his laptop, looking through files that he considers to be personal. "I was able to determine that they looked extensively at my personal photos and at my saved personal chats with my girlfriend," he said.

ACLU attorney Catherine Crump spoke in-depth about the case with Bob Garfield, host of WNYC's program "On the Media."

(09/28/07) Investigators for the Government Accountability Office say they were able to smuggle fake contraband designed to look like a dirty atomic bomb into the United States. The GAO is the investigative arm of Congress. In a report released yesterday, GAO officials say they crossed easily at seven different remote rural sites, including four unidentified spots on the US-Canada border. As Brian Mann reports, there's a growing bipartisan consensus that the Bush Administration's strategy for security on the northern border isn't working.

(06/09/06) The arrest of 17 Muslim men and boys in a Toronto suburb on terror charges has triggered a new debate over Canada's approach to immigration. Tolerance and multiculturalism are mainstream values in Canada, especially in liberal Ontario. But some Canadians -- including members of the Muslim community -- worry that a growing number of immigrants don't share common values with their fellow citizens. Brian Mann reports from Toronto.

(05/03/05) The U.S. Border Patrol has dramatically increased the use of road checkpoints inside the U.S.- Canada border. One on the Adirondack Northway grabbed headlines last year after 4 people died and more than 50 were seriously injured in accidents there. But there are also dozens of border patrol checkpoints on smaller roads across the North Country. The Border Patrol says they're a critical second line of defense for stopping terrorism. But some citizens and civil liberties groups say they're an invasion of privacy and may not be very effective. David Sommerstein reports.

(08/29/02) The government of Canada is preparing to deport more than a thousand Algerians, now living in the city of Montreal. The Algerians came to Canada over the last decade, fleeing their country's vicious civil war. Many of those on the deportation list say they'll be persecuted or killed, if sent home. But their case is complicated by the fact that Algerian refugees in Canada have been linked to more than a dozen acts of terrorism. North Country Public Radio's Brian Mann reports from Montreal.