Inside the U.S. Customs and Border Protection at Peace Bridge

The United States lifted a pandemic border control policy a couple of weeks ago. Now, U.S. border officers are preparing for a busy summer at the Peace Bridge.
With over 60,000 employees, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is one of the world’s largest law enforcement organizations. It consists of three operations, the U.S. Border Patrol, Air and Marine Operations, and the Office of Field Operations.
Giorgio Fuda has been with border protection since 2009 and joined Field Operations in 2013. He says a lot has changed since he first started, “technology has been great, it’s been a force multiplier, it’s allowed us, the officers to more efficiently process traffic while taking away the administrative burdens.”
CHCH News got to see this technology including an X-ray designed to scan transport trucks, license plate reading cameras, and facial recognition technology. The officers still rely on long-used methods like the K-9 unit.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection says all these pieces and more are integral to ensure safety and efficiency. On a typical day, they process over 800,000 passengers and pedestrians.
U.S. Border Patrol says the Peace Bridge specifically is a challenging border crossing to work at and a dangerous one for those who attempt to illegally cross.
Special Ops Supervisor, Eric Secord says, “The challenges here are quite extreme, it is an all maritime border, with that comes a very quick river, deep, fast moving current, it stays cold with the winter and cold weather, the water can get you hypothermic very fast.”
Collaboration with the Canadian side of the border is essential. “…99.9 per cent of everybody that you run into is legitimate traffic, they’re good outstanding people just going on with their day, and the difficulty is finding that .01 per cent that is doing something illicit. It’s the partnerships that make a difference with that,” Secord said.
For Canadians who are planning to travel this summer, there are simple ways to ensure a smooth process. Such as having the proper documentation and making sure it’s not expired, and declaring everything in the vehicle. If you have any questions you can visit cbp.gov before travelling.