Posted on Mon, Oct. 09, 2006

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/ne ... 713040.htm

BORDER PROTECTION

Tough task lies ahead for new border chief

The new commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection faces the tough job of securing the nation's ports and airports without disrupting trade and travel.

BY JAY WEAVER
jweaver@MiamiHerald.com
About Ralph Basham

Ralph Basham used to protect the president. Now he protects Americans from terrorism.

''I went from 18 acres at the White House to 9,000 miles of borders,'' said Basham, the former director of the Secret Service, who took over the job of commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection in June.

Basham -- whose agency manages some 317 ports of entry and all points in between -- visited the agency's Miami regional office last week to update himself on what he calls the ''crossroads'' of the Americas.

Every year, Miami International Airport sees more than seven million passengers arriving from foreign countries, and the Port of Miami-Dade processes more than 250,000 cargo containers.

Basham said his agency's toughest task is securing the nation's borders without disrupting trade and travel. ''If we shut down trade and travel, they've won,'' he said, referring to extremists who may threaten the country in the post-9/11 era.

SOME CRITICS

The agency is not without its critics.

They say the nation's seaports and airports are still vulnerable to weapons of mass destruction because Customs and Border Protection officers can only inspect a fraction of cargo containers and question a small percentage of foreign travelers.

But Basham said critics are missing the point.

He said the agency can screen containers and passengers in advance by sharing vital information with foreign countries, businesses, airlines and other law enforcement agencies.

He said agency officers, using improved intelligence such as terrorist and no-fly watch lists, can zero in on suspicious passengers at airports. He said new technology helps pinpoint potential problems at seaports.

MORE MONITORS

Thomas Winkowski, director of the agency's field operations in Miami, cited the Port of Miami-Dade's four mobile radiation detection monitors. He added that six permanent radiation monitors will be operating by next spring.

''That means 100 percent of the cargo traffic leaving the port and coming into the city will be scanned for radiation to target risks,'' Winkowski said, adding that the same technology will be installed at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale next year.

Basham said Customs and Border Protection -- which was incorporated into the newly created U.S. Department of Homeland Security three years ago -- has far more ''tools and training'' to secure the nation's border than it did before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

But when asked whether today's revamped agency could have stopped 9/11 terrorist ringleader Mohamed Atta upon entering the United States at MIA months before those assaults, Basham spoke with caution.

''I would be foolish to say it could not happen [again]'' Basham said.

``But the probability of that happening today is a lot less.''

TERRORIST QUESTIONED

Atta was nearly denied entry to the United States on Jan. 10, 2001, when an immigration inspector at MIA became suspicious that he wanted to take flight lessons while visiting on a tourist visa.

A second inspector further questioned Atta, who was ultimately cleared to enter the country instead of being detained or deported.

In more-current developments, Basham said he was partly pleased with Congress' recent passage of an immigration bill that calls for building a 700-mile fence on the southwest border with Mexico.

He noted that Congress, which authorized $1.2 billion for the project, gave Homeland Security the flexibility to decide where to build the barrier, which reportedly won't be as long as first touted.

CASH FOR TECHNOLOGY

Indeed, some of that federal money will be used for road blocks, electronic monitoring and other technology to help stop illegal entries along the 2,000-mile U.S. border with Mexico, Basham said.

''I think Congress has recognized there is a need for a flexible approach,'' he said. ``It's not about building a fence; it's about building a smart border.''

But he said lawmakers should heed President Bush's goal to deal with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in this country, including a guest-worker program that could lead to citizenship.

''In my mind, he's going to continue to push toward a more comprehensive immigration bill,'' Basham said.