(A day late, and a dollar short, if Bush & Co. really wanted to stop terrorism, they would have shut the border down 9-11-2001.  Instead Bush wants to give amnesty to millions of ILLEGAL Aliens and open the borders even more and expand the globalist socialist NAFTA agenda and to force National IDs, and limit Constitutional freedoms on AMERICANS.  This is just a diversion, by gestapo Homeland Security Director Ridge. Watch, nothing of any real value will be done on the Mexican-American border.  But they will concentrate on devising and implementing more restrictions on YOU, Mr. and Mrs. America.  Watch what liars do, not what liars say.)

Ridge Speaks About Border Security
By RON FOURNIER
AP White House Correspondent

February 28, 2002, 1:17 PM EST

WASHINGTON -- The United States and Mexico need to do "something more and something different" to tighten border security while speeding the flow of commerce at key crossings, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said Thursday.

Ridge said the deployment of National Guard troops at the U.S.-Mexican border will be a temporary measure until new Customs agents can be hired and trained. "The last thing we want to do is militarize the border between friends," the former Pennsylvania governor said.

Ridge met with reporters to preview his two-day trip next week to Mexico, which will lay the groundwork for President Bush's visit later in the month.

The Bush administration and Mexico hope to strike a deal on border security, and Ridge said he has offered the U.S.-Canadian arrangement as a model.

In December, the United States and its northern neighbor agreed to coordinate border safety in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Provisions include resuming a computer system that eases the entry process into both countries for low-risk, preapproved users. It also calls for new technology to clear goods in factories, rail yards and seaports instead of waiting until they reach the border crossing.

Ridge cited both provisions Thursday as he expressed hope that the United States and Mexico will "reach our goal of securing the border without jeopardizing the commerce" that travels between the two nations.

"It's been pretty clear that security is a new dimension -- that (after) Sept. 11 there is certainly a heightened sense that we need to do something more and something different but we can't do it at the expense ... of commerce activity and jobs," Ridge said.

With new technologies, officials can "try to identify your low-risk traffic and no-risk traffic," allowing for greater focus on cargo and people who are unknown, Ridge said.

He meets Monday with Mexican counterparts and the next day with Mexican President Vicente Fox before returning to Washington. Bush travels to Mexico two weeks later.

Ridge said that since a free-trade deal with Mexico in 1994, commerce has tripled along the border. In the aftermath of Sept. 11, which led to tighter border restrictions, "commerce has slowed down," Ridge said.

Ridge also said:

* He does not know how many drugs were smuggled into the United States through a tunnel discovered on the border by the Drug Enforcement Administration on Wednesday. The good news, he said, is that the discovery of the tunnel underscores the benefits of U.S. and Mexican police working together.

* He is still pushing to consolidate border enforcement duties now spread throughout dozens of federal agencies, but acknowledged the matter is the subject of debate inside the administration. "This is still very actively being discussed," he said. "Stay tuned."

Copyright � 2002, The Associated Press
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-InfoWarz
Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.
O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness. The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillars; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.
-Jeremiah 51:12-14
 

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