The Caledonian-Record Online Edition · Tuesday April 10, 2007
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Homeland Security Wants Streets Closed

BY ROBIN SMITH, Staff Writer

- DERBY -- U.S. Homeland Security wants to close all unguarded border-crossing streets in villages like Derby Line all along the U.S.-Canadian border, a major issue in communities dependent on international mutual fire aid.

"We have a lot of side streets that are unguarded," said U.S. Border Patrol Agent Sean Lahan, acting agent with the Newport Border station.

"The idea is being looked into," Lahan said when asked if the U.S. wants to close the side streets that lack customs stations.

Derby Line has three little side streets - Maple, Church and Lee - that are open. Vehicles and pedestrians can cross back and forth into Canada and the U.S. without going through a guard house or border station. The international and unique Haskell Free Library and Opera House sits on one of those streets.

These side streets have been a problem for Border Patrol agents, who have had to sit in vehicles and watch for illegal smugglers or aliens.

But now, Canada may be interested in discussing the closing of these streets, Lahan told the Derby Select Board on Monday.

The streets are open by international treaty, Lahan said. Both countries would have to agree to close them to through traffic.

Canada is interested because there is starting to be a flow of smugglers north, he said.

Selectman Karen Jenne said that local officials have written to U.S. authorities asking that the side streets be kept open because of mutual aid agreements for fire protection.

Homes are close together on these streets, with the border going through some buildings like the library.

"We have a lot of neat and special agreements," noted Selectman Steve Gendreau, saying that closing border streets would harm commerce as well as community relations.

Agent Lahan said that U.S. residents generally support the mission of the U.S. Border Patrol, which is to prevent entry of terrorists and their weapons and to establish operational control of the nation's borders in between the established ports of entry.

That includes hundreds of miles in the Swanton sector, between New York and Maine, he said.

The Border Patrol's objectives are to apprehend terrorists, deter illegal entries, detect and deter smugglers, use smart border technology and reduce crime in border communities, he said. Derby does depend on Border Patrol for law enforcement, he said.

The Swanton sector is the busiest in the U.S. And the Newport station's area from Jay to Canaan has been the busiest in the Swanton sector, Lahan said.

"We are busy here with Montreal, New York City and a highway that goes straight through," he said.

"We catch most of ours in the woods," he noted.

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Challenges range from the unguarded streets in villages like Derby Line to snowmobile trails in the wooded mountainous areas.

The Newport station has more agents, at 20 where once it had four.

In 2006, 1,542 deportable aliens were stopped in the sector, Lahan said.

In 2004, 148 people were stopped who came from "special interest" countries, like Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

In the Swanton sector, agents seized 3,973 pounds of marijuana in 2006, down from a high of 6,292 pounds in 2003, Lahan said.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, which includes the Border Patrol, is also targeting a Montreal-based Eastern European mob that has connections to Roma and Falfurrius, Texas.

The Border Patrol is partnered with local law enforcement agencies, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, in the Integrated Border Enforcement Team based in Stanstead, Quebec.

Board of selectmen Chairman Brian Smith pointed out that several of his friends on snowmobiles came upon a Border Patrol agent who leveled his firearm at them in Norton.

Agent Lahan said that the agents are suspicious of anyone on a snowmobile coming south from the Canadian border. Also, an agent was nearly run over by a fleeing snowmobiler just the week before, he noted.

The Border Patrol has always had the authority to stop people on the border, Lahan said.

"Our jurisdiction is based on suspicion," he said.

That authority and responsibility have always been in place, Lahan said.

"Now people want them enforced," he said. "If you are paying someone to keep terrorists out of the U.S., don't you want them to do it?

"Nobody cared about our mission 20 years ago," Lahan said.

Smith urged Lahan to do more public presentations to explain the role and obligation of the Border Patrol with border residents.

Local residents would be surprised at the number of aliens stopped, Jenne said.

One of the reporters present urged Lahan to tell higher authorities in the Border Patrol and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to do a better job of telling the public about their operations.

The agencies have strict rules about speaking with journalists, Lahan said. When a reporter asked a question, Lahan said he could not answer it - but he could and did answer the same question when one of the selectmen asked it.

This is not the first presentation by the Border Patrol to local communities. Lahan said he spoke at the Holland annual town meeting in March and will speak to the Derby Line village trustees and residents in May.

Despite the limitations on talking to the press, Lahan said that the public presentations he is doing are part of a national initiative.

The Caledonian-Record is a daily newspaper serving Northern Vermont and Northern New Hampshire. Visit our website updated daily at www.caledonianrecord.com



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