House panel urged to bolster security on northern border

BELLINGHAM – Security along Whatcom County’s border with Canada is strained by a shortage of trained agents at area border crossings and a lack of funding for local prosecutors faced with border-related criminal cases, members of two U.S. House subcommittees were told Tuesday.

The nation’s northern border deserves more manpower and equipment, the representatives – members of the House Committee on Homeland Security – agreed, but increased vigilance in areas such as Whatcom County will not come cheap.

As part of a series of field hearings around the country, the House members heard testimony from both law enforcement and academic experts on border security.

As security increases on the southern border with Mexico, the northern border could become a more tempting target.

“If the Congress and the president want to get serious about security, (they) need to get serious about the northern border,” said U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif. “If we plug other places, people, terrorists and drugs will come through this border.”

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Blaine sector, which includes the Peace Arch border crossing, remains 400 officers short, said Ronald Henley, the sector’s chief patrol agent. While adding an unmanned aerial drone to patrol the border from the coast to Montana would help, Henley said technology could only do so much.

“It doesn’t do any good to see anything at the top of the Cascades if I can’t respond to it,” he said.