Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Walker says US has no entry controls 'by land.' Wrong, 167 times.

Doing Trump's bidding on Twitter, Walker again flashed his ignorance about the country yesterday:
Are those who don’t want a secure border also calling for an end to airport security? If not, why do we control entry to America by air and water, but not by land?
But the US has scores of land entry control stations, as has been repeatedly referenced in recent reports, like this one in USA Today on January 15:
Fact-checking Trump officials: Most drugs enter US through legal ports of entry, not vast, open border
The US through Homeland Security and the General Services Administration operate 167 so-called "ports of entry" on the borders, including 47 on the US-Mexico line, according to official US data:

Land Ports of Entry Overview

A Land Port Of Entry, also known as a border station, is the facility that provides controlled entry into or departure from the United States for persons or materials. It houses the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and other federal inspection agencies responsible for the enforcement of federal laws pertaining to such activities. 
Currently, there are 167 LPOEs at America’s borders counting both Canada and Mexico. The General Services Administration owns and operates 102 of these Land Ports of Entry. The balance are either owned and operated by Homeland Security’s CBP or are leased to the government by municipalities, other local governments or private entities such as toll bridges. 
Within the GSA’s Office of Design and Construction, the LPOE Subject Matter Experts support regional offices and project managers on the design, development and construction of individual LPOEs. The LPOE SMEs act as GSA’s national liaison with other LPOE program stakeholders facilitating the program’s successful delivery. SMEs come from both the Expert Resources Division and the Special Programs Office. They also coordinate the long-range space requirements of CBP protection programs, the rolling five year plan within GSA’s annual budget request, and project approval processes in partnership with CBP.
External stakeholders include: CBP, Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, state, local and municipal transportation organizations, the U.S. Department of State, Congress, Office of Mexican Border Affairs, Office of Canadian Border Affairs, additional various departments of the Mexican and Canadian governments, U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration, International Boundary and Water Commission, International Business Council, citizen advocacy groups, and U.S. taxpayers. 
The Northern Border Program Office oversees land ports in GSA Regions 1,2,5,8 and 10 covering ME, VT, NY, MI, MN, ND, MT, ID, WA, AK. 
The Southern Border Program Office oversees land ports in GSA Regions 7 and 9 covering CA, AZ, NM, TX. 

Current Land Port Statistics: 
102 GSA Owned LPOEs 
19 GSA Leased LPOEs
3 Partially Owned nad Leased LPOEs
77 Northern GSA LPOEs (including leased)
47 Southern LPOEs 
43 CBP/Other LPOEs with GSA involvement 
167 Total LPOEs

 

1 comment:

tanstaafl said...

Scott Walker is extremely ignorant about a great number of subjects. He is also a bought-and-paid-for political puppet of the Koch brothers, ALEC, and the billionaire class in general; he is their lackey.