What Does ‘Right’ Look Like at the U.S. Border?

Posted: May 21st, 2018

Six years ago this month, almost to the day, Cipher Brief CEO & Publisher Suzanne Kelly accompanied then- Border Chief Michael J. Fisher to the U.S. Border with Mexico, seeking a better understanding of the complex geography and tactics required to patrol each section of the often treacherous divide. Back then, Fisher’s most immediate concern was terrorists coming into the U.S. Even then, Chief Fisher candidly shared that there was no way to completely secure the border.

Around the same time, the then head of SOUTHCOM, General John Kelly, who now serves as President Trump’s Chief of Staff, was busy making a case to Washington policy makers that they needed to pay closer attention to transnational crime routes leading to – and across – the U.S. divide. Kelly wanted Congress to see what he was seeing – concerning activities along traditional crime routes that could be easily infiltrated by terrorists.

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What Does ‘Right’ Look Like at the U.S. Border?

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