Officials Along US-Canada Border Work to Strike Balance Between Openness, Security (1/2)

The U.S. border with Canada, 6,400 kilometers from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans, has been described as the world's longest undefended international boundary.

The U.S. southern border with Mexico has hundreds of kilometers of high fencing, with more planned, but there is little to mark parts of the U.S. northern border.

A small fence is all that separates the U.S. town of Blaine, Washington, from a Canadian highway.

Officials along the northern border are trying to balance the need for protection with the need to speed the cross-border flow of goods and people.

Concerns with terrorism have led to added layers of security at border checkpoints, where people crossing over are photographed and questioned.

Customs and Border Protection agents check drivers, passengers and cargo. They are looking for contraband, undeclared goods, and people, including terrorists, trying to enter the country illegally. Supervisory agent Larry Nichols says the screening process is both an art and a science.

"Scientifically, we have better technology than we did a few years ago, the art - we do have officers that are very intuitive, and they are trained to detect deceit, illicit responses."

参考译文：

美国和加拿大的边界，从太平洋一直延伸到大西洋，绵延6千4百公里，被人们称作“世界上最长的不设防国界”。

在与墨西哥接壤的美国南都边界上有着数百公里的高墙，而且计划建造的围墙还有更多。然而，美国北部边界却基本没有什么标志性的建筑物。

把美国华盛顿州的布莱尼镇和一条加拿大高速路分开的仅仅是一道矮小的围墙。

美国北部沿界的地方官员都想着怎么做到既保证了必要的安全又能让边界两边的物品人员流动的顺畅。

对恐怖主义（袭击）的担忧使得（政府）在各检查点增设了多道安保关卡。各检查点会对通过的人们拍照登记并且进行询问。

海关和边境安保人员对车辆、行人和货物都要进行检查。他们要从中找出走私品、未报关的货品以及包括恐怖分子在内的非法入境的人。高级官员拉里•尼科尔斯表示搜查的过程既需要技术也需要科学的帮助。

就科技而言，我们拥有的科学技术比以往更先进；就技术而言- 我们有极富警惕性的安保人员，他们接受过专门训练，能够识破谎言和一些非法行径。