Description of the US and Canadian Smart Action Border Plan Free Essay Example, 2500 words

Lieberman, in a report, emphasized that the Canadian border should be more secure as there are more extremist Islamist families living in Canada. Border patrolling dates back to as early as 1904, when mounted watchmen patrolled the border to prevent illegal Chinese immigrants. Now, border security is just not limited to patrolling watchmen, but also includes biometric scans, lasers, virtual fence, cameras, motion detectors, and sensors. On December 12, 2001, Canada and the US signed the Smart Border Action Plan (SBAP) to enhance the security of their shared border. The Action Plan focuses on four key elements: the secure flow of people, the secure flow of goods, secure infrastructure, and information sharing and coordination in the enforcement of these objectives. The key factors of the SBAP emphasized on raising the standard of the biometrics involved and a compatible technology to read it. Fingerprints, drivers license/passport, and facial recognition have been selected as the mos t standard form of biometrics. Production of passports with embedded biometrics was initiated by the US in early 2005. The Canadian government issued permanent resident cards including laser engraved photograph and signatures that makes it one of the most fraud-resistant documents in the world. We will write a custom essay sample on Description of the US and Canadian Smart Action Border Plan or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now In order to make sure that the strict security measures do not inconvenience the residents of Canada and US who want to cross the border, the NEXUS highway programme was started, to simplify border crossings for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. On November 30, 2004, the two countries began piloting the NEXUS-Air program at Vancouver International Airport (VIA), British Columbia. NEXUS-Air uses iris recognition biometric technology (identifies an individual based on the unique pattern of their iris), which makes the US security even stronger(Government Canada, 2008). In February 2003, Canada and the United States signed a Statement of Mutual Understanding (SMU) to allow the two countries to more effectively exchange information on immigration-related issues and to systematically share information on refugee/asylum claimants.