Securing Our Borders

My cousin recently had an experience crossing the border between the United States and Canada that left me a little confused. As a seasoned business traveller he has entered the United States legally multiple times in the past with no problems whatsoever. As an Indian citizen he's required to get a visa whenever he is visiting and as such, he has always taken care of these things ahead of time so that there's no issue when he arrives at customs. However, on a recent trip, he arrived in Canada to see Niagara Falls from the Canadian side. That evening after everything was done they decided to go to spend the night. However, the nearest hotel with accomodations available was nearly 60 miles away and across the border in New York.

Now my cousin already had his visa as he was intending to come to the US anyways later on but since he had the visa and had been through customs numerous times before he didn't anticipate any problems. He was asked to fill out the I-94 card and proceed through customs. His only concern was that they intended to go back to Canada the next day to look at the falls during the day and then head back to upstate New York. However, the Border Security officer he met informed him that since he had filled out the paperwork already, his name was in the system and that he wouldn't have any problem getting back in or out of the US. So the next morning they went to the falls and saw everything and then headed back to cross into the United States and there he would wait for the next four and a half hours.

It wasn't because of the line to get through customs but it was because there were questions about his reasons for exiting and re-entering the country in such a short span of time. Now seeing as how paranoid we've all become in the past decade, I can understand their suspicions but still, I would think that the computer systems at all Border Security posts would be able to provide a history on an individual who has entered and exited the country legally numerous times over the past few decades. Even if there was reason for suspicion, shouldn't it have already come up? One of the reasons for the confusion was apparently over the fact that although my cousin has an Indian passport, he lives and works in the United Arab Emirates and due to restrictions in that country, he can rent but not own property. For that matter, no non-U.A.E. citizen can do so.

I'm sure some of the astute among you can see where some of the problems could have cropped up. Here's a person entering the country multiple times with no 'permanent' address living in the United Arab Emirates (a country that is quite progressive and modern compared to others in the region). So suspicion gets aroused and questions arise as to whether my cousin is on the 'up-and-up'. Now I know that it's hard to train all Border Security forces to the point that they know and understand in general the rules and regulations of most major nations and while I understand that the guards on the Canadian border probably don't deal that often with anyone other than Americans and Canadians, there is still the chance that there will be an occasional person who falls outside of that general category.

Knowing that, wouldn't it make sense to better inform the agents and officers who work those posts? After all, the airports are fairly well secured but who's to say that any and all suspicious people will choose to enter the country that way? Several of the terrorists from 9/11 entered the country that way and although changes have been made since then, why are our security officers spending so much time on a person who has visited here enough number of times to allay any suspicion. I suppose it pays to be extra cautious but still, when we are scrutinizing the people coming in legally, are we truly scrutinizing those we really should be worried about? I'm not one to put up massive walls along the borders but I do think that we need to do a better job of informing our agents so that they know more about where people are coming from (in terms of countries) and why in some cases they may have one passport and a different address.