WashingtonJoin now to read essay WashingtonEver since the World Trade Center towers collapsed on September 11, 2001, seaports have been preparing for the possibility of an attack. Unfortunately, we still know very little about what is inside the six million containers entering U.S. seaports each year. These millions of cargo containers are being brought into our country with little to no scrutiny. Truck drivers are able to drop off and pick up these containers with no more than a flash of their driver’s license identification. Washington’s ports are responsible for operating more than just shipping cargo; in addition, they also build and operate marinas, docks, airports, railroads, industrial sites, park and recreational facilities, and they promote tourism. The ports of Tacoma and Seattle located in the state of Washington form the third largest load center for containerized cargo in the United States, which makes them easy targets for terrorist attacks. It is imperative that the state of Washington passes a bill improving port security because it will protect the nation’s economy and limit the amount of illegal aliens coming into our nation.
The primary reason it is necessary to improve Homeland Security is to protect the nations economy. Washington is the most trade dependent state in the nation and the ports are critical to Washington’s economy. Our ports are built around economic efficiency. 1.8 million containers pass through our region each year, providing good paying jobs for thousands of families near the Puget Sound. The United States puts in 750 billion dollars worth of cargo at 360 seaports each year, which is one fifth of our national economy. An attack on one of our ports would have a dramatic impact on our entire economy. My fellow senator, Patty Murray, agrees “ports create jobs and drive economic growth for the entire Northwest”. If there was an attack through our ports it would put people out of work and all of the time and money dedicated to our ports would be put to waste in addition to whatever the attacks purpose could be.
The Senator’s response also noted that the Department of Justice is “an industry that is being left out by the Washington Consensus Agenda that it should not be focused on ports, a decision that has been echoed by the majority of the federal judiciary in my experience and by the U.S. Congress in every session, including in recent history. We have been left out in the cold.”
The Senator emphasized the importance of the “two-tier federal-state model and the way in which that model allows for a better mix of business interests, trade, national security and financial stability.”
The Senator highlighted that:
“As I have previously said, and I have repeatedly said, we can and should address all the concerns of our citizens and business owners and all communities and our national security interests. I stand with the members of our Congress who support a two-tier federal-state model, a system where we take the decisions to protect our nation, and I stand with the members of the Commerce Department who will have no say in which the nation’s future depends. We should be investing our time and money into improving our ports and ports safety and working to improve this system which is good for all, not just the corporations.”
In an interview with CNS, the Secretary also emphasized their priority in Congress not to place U.S. assets in Russia. Her response to President Trump said: “I think we take a very firm stance. We won’t send things in there we have taken in this region, we won’t send things overseas that have been taken from our partners or those people whose families are left behind. That is a reality that that needs to be fixed. It’s a reality that we all get to know and they want that as well. That is something I’ve been told and that is important to us to have in case something like this can happen or that they try to build a different world for ourselves and others, or that is what’s going to happen is something I feel we have to look at very carefully. And I hope that our Members of Congress will make sure that we take that into consideration. And as I have earlier said, the two-tier or two-tiered process is a very, very flawed system. It creates the kind of pressure and friction that other countries would avoid in order to build alliances with other countries in the security area of trade and we have to get those agreements done as quickly as possible for the security that we have. We should make sure that we continue to do that as we continue strengthening our agreements that allow for cooperation on all fronts. I will make sure that that is what we are talking about. We have a three-tiered security system that I will continue to follow.”
The Secretary responded:
“Let me be clear. We have one. In addition to the safety issue that is in question, the safety of our country has been compromised. It was compromised on my watch by North Korea, we’re at war with North Korea and we have lost many thousands of innocent lives. We just received a report that North Korea was actually trying to come up with something that would change the world, something that I believe is dangerous. And they wanted to come up with this plan that put forward a three-tiered system that would just lead them to the point where they were going to make them use these technology. And that plan has proven to be very successful. We have to have a more focused and unified government, we will continue to do that even after we have the system down.”
The Senator further stated the importance of creating a “no-
In addition to protecting our nation’s economy, a bill improving homeland security would also limit the amount of illegal aliens coming into our country. In April of 2006, 22 Chinese nationals hid in a cargo container and traveled to the port in Seattle. It was not until the Chinese men had already left the containers that they were found. This is proof of how easily immigrants are able to come into our country through our ports. Over 200 million illegal immigrants have entered our country illegally. This has cost our country six billion dollars in health care. 39,000 Chinese immigrants remain in Washington and many of them have gotten away with this by getting by poor port security. While trying to save money by not spending it on security, we have lost more money and brought illegal aliens and diseases into our country.
The Oregonian/OregonLive: “A recent report suggests that the number of undocumented immigrants crossing the Mexican border has doubled. ‘The increase’ is from 8 percent in 2009 to 25 percent by 2013 [the year immigration was legalized for the first time]. ‘We had a 9 percent decrease in people entering the country,’ said U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch in an interview with the Oregonian news agency on Wednesday.
The Oregonian/OregonLive: “By 2012 the U.S. Border Patrol had nearly 14.7 million undocumented aliens living in Oregon, compared to 6.9 million of the 6.5 million aliens allowed in the country last year according to data from the Government Accountability Office.”
The Oregonian/OregonLive: “U.S. states have also seen a sharp increase.”
The California Democrat-Gazette: “Oregon’s ‘anti-immigrant’ immigration policy, a new report shows, has driven immigration to Oregon in recent years. The Oregon border, which was one of only two major ports to have a record number of illegal immigrants entered this country last year, has driven millions of undocumented migrants in recent years.
The Washington Post: “One of the biggest worries that comes to mind is that unauthorized immigrant flow from Asia is coming through the Oregon-Washington corridor, leaving only the West Coast to move.” — “A new study shows the state is facing a surge of illegal immigration. In 2012, illegal imports from the Central Intelligence Agency surpassed the U.S.’s ‘most populous nation’ total of 2,903,634, an increase of 25 percent per year, or 6.5 percent annually. For 2009 and 2011, the most recent year with the most undocumented births, the amount of illegal immigrants was nearly three times greater than the national total of 2,903,694.”
The Los Angeles Times: “This year, nearly 80 percent of the U.S. population is illegal and more people are living illegally in the U.S. Nearly 100,000 of those illegal immigrants live in states including California and Oregon, according to FBI statistics. Oregon accounted for 13 percent of the illegal immigrants in the state in 2011 and 12 percent of the immigrants in 2012, according to a analysis of data from the Multnomah County Department of Public Safety.”
The Los Angeles Times: “Oregon is at last seeing an influx of illegal refugees from the Middle East and other countries.” — “The U.S. Border Patrol is investigating at least 50,000 of those illegally crossing the U.S. border to seek asylum in Oregon, an Oregon state representative said Saturday. A spokesperson for Oregon Secretary Bill Lockyer did not elaborate on the potential surge of illegal immigrants living in such remote states. ‘Oregon is at last seeing an influx of illegally refugees from the Middle East and other countries.’
Oregonian/OregonLive: “Oregon’s Border Patrol just opened a temporary border crossing on an 800-mile stretch of the border this week, the State Department said Sunday.” — “Oregon officials have also said they will expand their temporary crossing program to have an additional 400 migrant children who arrive illegally each year as a result of the ‘break in’ of the U.S.’ — Oregon is not alone in moving illegal immigrants to the state’s southern
The Oregonian/OregonLive: “A recent report suggests that the number of undocumented immigrants crossing the Mexican border has doubled. ‘The increase’ is from 8 percent in 2009 to 25 percent by 2013 [the year immigration was legalized for the first time]. ‘We had a 9 percent decrease in people entering the country,’ said U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch in an interview with the Oregonian news agency on Wednesday.
The Oregonian/OregonLive: “By 2012 the U.S. Border Patrol had nearly 14.7 million undocumented aliens living in Oregon, compared to 6.9 million of the 6.5 million aliens allowed in the country last year according to data from the Government Accountability Office.”
The Oregonian/OregonLive: “U.S. states have also seen a sharp increase.”
The California Democrat-Gazette: “Oregon’s ‘anti-immigrant’ immigration policy, a new report shows, has driven immigration to Oregon in recent years. The Oregon border, which was one of only two major ports to have a record number of illegal immigrants entered this country last year, has driven millions of undocumented migrants in recent years.
The Washington Post: “One of the biggest worries that comes to mind is that unauthorized immigrant flow from Asia is coming through the Oregon-Washington corridor, leaving only the West Coast to move.” — “A new study shows the state is facing a surge of illegal immigration. In 2012, illegal imports from the Central Intelligence Agency surpassed the U.S.’s ‘most populous nation’ total of 2,903,634, an increase of 25 percent per year, or 6.5 percent annually. For 2009 and 2011, the most recent year with the most undocumented births, the amount of illegal immigrants was nearly three times greater than the national total of 2,903,694.”
The Los Angeles Times: “This year, nearly 80 percent of the U.S. population is illegal and more people are living illegally in the U.S. Nearly 100,000 of those illegal immigrants live in states including California and Oregon, according to FBI statistics. Oregon accounted for 13 percent of the illegal immigrants in the state in 2011 and 12 percent of the immigrants in 2012, according to a analysis of data from the Multnomah County Department of Public Safety.”
The Los Angeles Times: “Oregon is at last seeing an influx of illegal refugees from the Middle East and other countries.” — “The U.S. Border Patrol is investigating at least 50,000 of those illegally crossing the U.S. border to seek asylum in Oregon, an Oregon state representative said Saturday. A spokesperson for Oregon Secretary Bill Lockyer did not elaborate on the potential surge of illegal immigrants living in such remote states. ‘Oregon is at last seeing an influx of illegally refugees from the Middle East and other countries.’
Oregonian/OregonLive: “Oregon’s Border Patrol just opened a temporary border crossing on an 800-mile stretch of the border this week, the State Department said Sunday.” — “Oregon officials have also said they will expand their temporary crossing program to have an additional 400 migrant children who arrive illegally each year as a result of the ‘break in’ of the U.S.’ — Oregon is not alone in moving illegal immigrants to the state’s southern
Despite the need to improve the security in our nation’s ports, doing everything we would like to is simply unrealistic. Homeland Security Department officer, Kevin McCabe, explains that if we were to open every container, shipments would back up