Senate border hearing: Talking, cooperating are key

Some common themes came out of Friday’s U.S. Senate field hearing — the second held in Havre in five years — including the need for agencies to communicate and cooperate, the need for more funding, and the need for regular hours and easier access at the border.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., convened a field hearing of the subcommittee he chairs which is part of the Homeland Security committee, with Rep. Steve Daines, R-Mont., a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, also attending.

Daines thanked Tester for the opportunity to work together with him on border security and other issues, and also for the opportunity to have a hearing in Havre instead of Washington — and not just because of the lower humidity.

“But just the clarity, to see the issues,” Daines said. “We’re talking to people here with their boots on the ground, and it’s refreshing to get that perspective.”

The hearing included testimony from two panels — the first with Hill County Sheriff Don Brostrom, Havre Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Debbie Vandeberg and Border Patrol Agent Nathan Burr, representing its union, the National Border Patrol Council.

The second panel comprised Border Patrol Havre Sector Chief Agent Christopher Richards, Denver-based Special Agent In Charge for the Homeland Security Investigations and Customs Enforcement Kumar Kibble, and Blackfeet Nation Homeland Security Director Robert DesRosier.

The panels generally agreed that a key to securing the border is communication, cooperation and collaboration between agencies, between federal agencies themselves and also with the local law enforcement.

The general agreement was that relations have improved, although Burr cited conflicts between agencies and political pressure and local misconceptions as major problems in securing the borders.

But Brostrom said the situation has improved. His office always has relied on Border Patrol for help and backup, and the communication and cooperation has increased, he said.

DesRosier, who has a fairly unique situation with a sovereign Tribal nation having more than 50 miles of international border to secure, also said relations have improved. He cited a rescue on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation a few weeks ago where a National Park Service team assisted the tribe in rescuing three young women who were stranded on a mountain top. The relations with the Border Patrol also are very good, he said.

“It often goes unheard of, the extraordinary gains we have made in creating partnerships with federal agencies … ,” DesRosier said. “It’s a very good thing, but there are challenges in front of us that remain.”

Richards said that cooperation has included reaching out to landowners along the border. Those people are crucial in providing information to the Border Patrol, he said.

Burr and Richards — and Brostrom — said some of the challenges here are due to the vast distances, varied and often rugged terrain, and extremes in weather.

Burr said part of the problem is funding, including the budget problems now facing Washington. Even though some sectors have seen massive increases in staffing, some areas especially in radio dispatchers still are short, he said. Budget cuts have led to shortages of resources, such as fuel. Burr said stations are in a position where agents are allotted 10 gallons of gasoline a shift, with hundreds of miles to cover.

He said there also are problems with interagency jurisdictions, with some agencies seeming to worry more about protecting their turf than achieving their mission.

Political pressure also is a problem, he said, citing the Havre Sector’s effective checking of trains, building good working relationships with Amtrak and with other agencies, which now have been lost due to caving to political pressure, stopping the program.

Border Patrol agents again are checking the trains, he said, but the relationships have to be built again from scratch.

Kibble also said funding is a problem, with sequestration making it more difficult to fund his agency's operations.

Also talking of funding, Colleen Matoon, who works at the Port of Sweetgrass and serves as a chief steward of the National Treasury Employees Union, said during the public comment period that Congress should not forget the customs officers working at the ports.

A point illustrated at the hearing is that the Border Patrol is responsible for securing the border between ports, and at the ports when they are closed, but not while the ports are operating.

The ports are short-staffed and overworked as well, which is causing strain and problems at the border crossings, Matoon said.

“Will you continue to fight to makes sure the ports get the staffing they need?” she asked.

Tester said they will work to do so, especially with the obvious benefit the trade coming through the ports brings to the nation and to Montana.

“But, it’s a challenge right now,” he added.

Daines agreed that the focus also needs to be on the ports, especially with the increasing global nature of the economy.

Tester said that, while challenges to securing the border while promoting trade obviously continue to exist, the cooperation between agencies seem

“The better that we can work together, the better we can communicate together the better job we're going to be able to do in meeting the needs of the citizenry of this great country … ,” Tester said, adding, “I think you guys are well on the road. I think back to the hearing we had five years ago, I believe, here, and there was a different response at that hearing, an entirely different response, and so I applaud … (the agencies’) willingness to step up, put turf aside as much as possible and work together for the betterment of securing our border.”