84 million 'trusted' to access U.S. though Security, Prosperity Partnership

In a further indication that the "North American Union" agenda is quietly proceeding under what remains of the Security and Prosperity Partnership initiative in the Obama administration, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano signed, with little fanfare, an agreement in Mexico that would extend special "trusted traveler" access to the U.S. to an estimated 84 million Mexicans.

"In Mexico City, Secretary Napolitano and Mexican Ministry of the Interior Secretary José Francisco Blake Mora signed an agreement expressing their intent to develop a Global Entry international trusted traveler pilot program between the United States and Mexico – leveraging the success of the United States' Global Entry program to facilitate secure, legitimate travel between the two nations," announced a DHS statement Nov. 30.

In September 2006, WND reported that the Department of Transportation, acting through a Security and Prosperity Partnership "working group," was preparing to issue North American biometric border passes to Mexican, Canadian and U.S. "trusted travelers," according to documents released to WND under a Freedom of Information Act request.

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The Security and Prosperity Partnership, or SPP, was announced by President George W. Bush, together with then-Mexican President Vicente Fox and then-Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin at a press conference at the end of their trilateral summit meeting in Waco, Texas, March 23, 2005, without any U.S. congressional approval as a treaty or international agreement.

Under the SPP, the U.S., Mexico and Canada organized some 20 different "shadow government" bureaucratic working groups composed of agency heads and undersecretaries in the three nations. The groups spanned a wide range of policy areas, from e-commerce, to aviation policy, to borders and immigration, trilateral travel, transportation, energy, environment, food and agriculture, health and financial services.

WND has frequently reported, beginning in 2006, that the SPP was intended to implement a stealth plan to produce a North American Union composed of the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The agreement Napolitano signed with Mexico Nov. 30 appears to bring the SPP working group "trusted traveler" commitment closer to fruition.

The Transportation Security Administration refused to answer a WND inquiry regarding whether trusted traveler cards issued to Mexicans would allow the holder to avoid the new U.S. enhanced screening with full-body backscatter X-ray machines.

As described on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website, the trusted traveler program allows applicants to receive a biometric border pass to facilitate cross-border travel. The recipient must undergo a thorough background check against criminal, law enforcement, customs, immigration and terrorist files, including biometric fingerprint checks and a personal interview with a CBP officer.

The trusted traveler network is more thoroughly described on the "Global Entry" website maintained by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.

"Global Entry is a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program that allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low risk travelers upon arrival in the United States," the CBP website proclaims.

"Though intended for frequent international travelers, there is no minimum number of trips necessary to qualify for the program. Participants may enter the United States by using automated kiosks located at select airports."

"A key part of the [Nov. 30] agreement is a trusted traveler program that allows airline passengers who have gone through rigorous background checks to bypass lengthy screenings at airport checkpoints," wrote All Headline News correspondent Tom Ramstack, reporting from Mexico City. "They must also provide biometric information – such as fingerprints – that can be encoded onto trusted traveler cards and run through electronic card readers."

Richardson reported that Mexican Ministry of the Interior Secretary José Francisco Blake Mora said that 84 million Mexicans could qualify for the Global Entry program.

Global Entry kiosks under the trusted traveler program have been installed at the following 20 airports, according to the CBP website.

• Boston-Logan International Airport (BOS)
• Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)
• Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport (DFW)
• Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW)
• Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport (FLL)
• George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston (IAH)
• Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
• Honolulu International Airport (HNL)
• John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York (JFK)
• Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
• McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas (LAS)
• Miami International Airport (MIA)
• Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
• Orlando International Airport (MCO)
• Orlando-Sanford International Airport (SFB)
• Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
• San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
• San Juan-Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport (SJU)
• Seattle-Tacoma International Airport-SeaTac (SEA)
• Washington-Dulles International Airport (IAD)

Trusted travelers answer customs declarations questions on the kiosks and present the resulting transaction receipts to customs agents for rapid transit through customs screening for easy access into the U.S.

The SPP in the administration of President Bush appeared designed to replicate the steps taken in Europe over a 50-year period following the end of World War II to transform an economic agreement under the European Common Market into a full-fledged regional government, operating as the European Union, with its own currency, the euro, functioning as the sole legitimate currency in what has become known as "the eurozone."

The concern was that under the SPP, the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, could be evolved into a regional government, a North American Union, with a regional currency, the amero, designed to replace the U.S. dollar, the Mexican peso and the Canadian dollar.

WND has reported analysts have believed the North American integration plan will proceed incrementally, largely below the radar, since the SPP was declared "dead" by one of its chief architects, American University Professor Robert A. Pastor, who for nearly 15 years has been a major proponent of building a "North American Community."

Dec. 14, 2010

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