BLAINE, Wash., Nov. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. Border Patrol officials warned increased security on the country's southern border may prompt terrorists, drug smugglers and illegal aliens to head north.
Canada's open immigration policy has prompted more than 50 terrorist groups to establish cells there according to a report by Canada's Security Intelligence Service, McClatchy Newspapers reported Monday.
Last year a senior FBI official was quoted in a report saying that Canada is the most worrisome terrorist point of entry and that al-Qaida training manuals advise terrorists to enter the United States from Canada.
Whatcom County, Wash., Sheriff Bill Elfo, whose jurisdiction includes more than 100 miles of border territory, told McClatchy Newspaper that it's safe to assume that tighter control at the Mexican border will shift illegal activity north.
Nearly 12,000 federal agents patrol the U.S.-Mexican border but fewer than 1,000 agents are assigned to watch the U.S. border with Canada which is twice as long, the McClatchy Newspapers report said.
