U.S. SENATE—U.S. Senator Steve Daines today sent a letter to the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security urging them to work with Canadian law enforcement to enhance systems that allow expedited access to criminal records.
“While it is clear there has been significant collaboration with the Canadian government, as the incident from January 23 shows, there still appear to be significant flaws either in the agreement itself, or in the implementation of the agreement. That a fugitive wanted for such egregious crimes was in custody and released without his identity being verified is both inconceivable and unacceptable. I urge you to take concrete steps going forward to improve collaboration with your Canadian counterparts or negotiate new agreements to prevent something like this from occurring again. I look forward to working with you to this end,” the letter states.
Read the full letter HERE.
Background:
On January 23rd, U.S. Border Patrol pursued four individuals suspected in an illegal border crossing and arrested and charged three of them. After releasing the fourth who claimed to be an American citizen, Border Patrol learned that the man, a Somali national and Canadian resident, is wanted by Canadian authorities and has ties to a violent gang. U.S. authorities are currently working to locate the man.