Value of Passport Control checks in Europe

Last year on the BBC news program Panorama, a female journalist took up a challenge to purchase fake passports for all 25 EU countries, and use them to enter the UK on multiple occasions. Though it cost quite a bit of money to secure the fakes, she was able to get 20 passports. She called it quits after one deal went bad and was almost killed in Sofia Bulgaria. She used the fake passports to enter the UK via air, train, and boat...not one immigration official detected the fakes.

The name of the documentary is My Fake Passports and Me. It's fascinating and horrifying at the same time. Well worth seeking out.

The documentary was about Europe, not North America.

......and the capital of New Jersey is Trenton.

How are the Europeans more mindful of their borders if the reporter succeeded in getting through multiple times? She only had problems purchasing the fake passports, not using them? (This was all in Europe and not the U.S. )

Fraudulent passports are a big problem which is one of the reasons the U.S. has the fingerprint and eye scanner requirements for foreigners coming to the U.S. Very difficult to fake those two. However, if they're a first time visitor the U.S. probably won't have a file on them.

Well, the UK also requires fingerprints and iris scans for incoming foreigners, too. Still kind of a useless practice since someone isn't considered a foreigner if they manage to enter with a fake UK passport (and conversely a fake US passport when entering the US).

Anytime a person has face to face contact with law enforcement, it increases the chance of catching bad guys. Even if the passport seems fine, the police/customs might notice other clues that something isn't right.

Almost everyone here has sailed through customs time and time again. We're not criminals so our answers to questions don't raise suspicion and they realize quickly there is no reason to spend much time with us.

I don't think anything "ensures" safety. The best you can hope for is policies that catch as many bad guys as possible without strip-searching everyone who crosses a border.