GAO Finds Border ID Security Still Failing

Even after five years of waging war on terror, undercover federal investigators are still able to enter the U.S. from Canada and Mexico using fake driver's licenses and other bogus forms of identification, or without being asked for ID at all, reports the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

First in early 2003, GAO agents told Congress that they had been able to “easily enter the United States from Canada and Mexico using fictitious names and counterfeit driver's licenses and birth certificates.” In May and June of 2006, GAO agents tried it again at nine border crossing points and reported, “On three occasions--in California, Texas, and Arizona--agents crossed the border on foot. At two of these locations--Texas and Arizona--CBP allowed the agents entry into the United States without asking for or inspecting any identification documents.”

The problem, says U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), is that their agents just are not able to identify all the forms of counterfeit identification presented at land border crossings. CBP supports a new plan that will require all travelers – including American citizens – to present a passport before entering the United States.

The full report is GAO-06-976T (.pdf) - Border Security: Continued Weaknesses in Screening Entrants into the United States.

Also See:
Border Security Gets 7 Billion in Bush’s 2006 Budget
Border Security: Not So Much