Reaping the border control harvest -- controls on leaving the United States get tighter

The following excerpt from a story on weapons being smuggled into Jamaica from the United States clearly shows how U.S. government border controls are not just a threat to undocumented migrants or organizations seeking to bring drugs into the U.S., but also pose a threat to the ability of U.S. residents to leave the country without exposing themselves to serious legal danger:

"'It's a massive problem,' said Leslie Green, a Jamaican assistant police commissioner. 'There aren't any checks or any controls on goods leaving the United States. Yet anything leaving here, we have to make sure it's double-checked and tripled-checked for drugs.'

  This complaint -- that Americans care only what comes in, not what goes out -- echoes that of Mexican authorities, who say cars going from the U.S. into Mexico aren't searched for weapons or cash.

  Now hundreds of agents are participating in a $95 million outbound inspection program, stopping suspicious-looking cars and trucks as they cross the border into Mexico."

  Maybe you wanted some protection from the danger of violence and kidnapping while in Mexico on vacation, or maybe you were carrying a lot of cash with the intention to buy land or other investment there, but if you are stopped at the national border carrying cash or weapons, are you going to be able to prove you didn't intend to use them for "illegal" purposes? What if they just seize the materials and arrest you in the meantime? What if they don't find anything in your vehicle, and decide to plant something in order to fill their quota?

  This state of affairs is a direct result of U.S. border control policy.

Love & Liberty,
        ((( starchild )))

I've long suspected that the border patrol/ICE agents are responsible for most of the smuggling. As 'law enforcement' officials, they can access those kinds of weapons and escape detection much more easily than 'ordinary citizens' can.

There have been reports in the Mexican media alledging that this smuggling and border corruption is very much a two-way street. You won't hear that in the US media, though.

There was a story on NPR about border police searching cars leaving the US and confiscating money - often letting the drivers go if they were willing to hand over the money. Almost all the cars they searched were *leaving* the US, not coming in, so clearly the goal was not to stop drugs from coming in.

I'd have to look this up, but I think during last December, the Boston Globe reported a story (which was quickly buried) about an FBI sting-operation in Boston aimed at breaking up a ring which was selling 'black market' labor among 'illegal' immigrants. They arrested the head of Homeland Security in Boston along with several ICE agents.