Is border enforcement “terrorism”?

August 6th, 2009

US Border Patrol - Police or Terrorists? Photo by Gerald L. Nino

Nations and countries have borders. Some line drawn on a map and supposedly agreed to by the rest of the world. These sovereigns understandably want to secure their borders and keep those who would enter illegally out of their country and that is their right. The people who do enter the country illegally would be subject to criminal investigation and quite probably charges being filed against the perpetrator. But is border enforcement terrorism?

Several months ago, North Korea came under fire for arresting two American journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, for allegedly crossing into North Korea illegally. We Americans were outraged – how dare they arrest Americans! In fact, I was watching Good Morning America this morning and in Jake Tapper’s report, John Bolton, former US ambassador to the UN, stated on camera that North Korea holding Lee and Ling was an act of terrorism. What? If, in fact, Lee and Ling did cross into North Korea illegally, they had every right to hold them. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m no fan of North Korea and their Mighty Midget Kim Jong Il and I could give a rat’s ass if they disappear from the planet, but they are here and do have a right to enforce their borders.

Earlier this week, Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Joshua Fattal were arrested for illegal entry into Iran. First of all, they say they were simply hiking in the region and inadvertantly crossed into Iran. Of course, Iran says they are spies. In any case, I think they executed poor judgement for getting anywhere near Iran’s border. But, I digress. Again, no fan of Iran, either, but they do have the sovereign right to enforce their borders.

I’m not saying that the American State Department should not try to have our citizens returned, but calling the act of enforcing borders terrorism is ludicrous. If so, then everytime we detain a Mexican citizen for crossing a river, we are also engaging in terrorism. Not so. We have the right to enforce our borders as well, and should do more to secure our nation.