Towards a Fortressed America

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate approved on a 59-39 vote to divert funds towards the war in Iraq to strengthen its border security, specially the border with Mexico. $1.9 billion will go into buying new aircraft, patrol boats, other vehicles, and a fence near the San Diego border with Mexico. Tuesday, Michael Chertoff (Department of Homeland Security) announced a new program that will screen about 400,000 personnel working in U.S. ports and their names and birthdates to be checked against terrorist watch lists.

Chertoff also announced DHS will soon publish rules for the Transportation Worker Identification Credential, ” a biometric-based and tamperproof identification card intended for truck drivers, rail workers and all those who must access sensitive areas of ports. That includes about 850,000 workers, according to DHS.” The program is set to be installed this year after being in the works since 2001. “We will not tolerate the employment of illegal workers at our ports,” Chertoff said. Since 2001, we’ve been witnessing the fortification of America, a process that is affecting transportation and migration policies at home and beyond U.S. borders.