Few delays seen for travelers as new border rules take effect
|
|
A driver hands his passport to a border agent at the U.S. border crossing in Highgate Springs Monday, June 1, when new border ID rules went into effect. Vehicle and pedestrian traffic moved smoothly on both U.S. international borders Monday, the first day of stricter requirements for Americans re-entering the country from Mexico or Canada. |
Toolbox
By WILSON RING The Associated Press - Published: June 2, 2009
HIGHGATE SPRINGS (AP) — Clement Cote left Montreal on Monday morning expecting a big line when he arrived in Vermont on the first day of new, stiffer border crossing requirements. It took the information technology consultant two minutes to get into the U.S.
"I thought it was going to be a two-hour lineup and I was going to have to wait forever," said Cote, 43, who had his Canadian passport with him when he entered Vermont. "I think it's pretty amazing."
Monday was the first day of full implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which requires travelers to have a passport or similar document to enter the United States. The program evolved out of security considerations following the 9/11 attacks on the United States and is designed to ensure that border agents know who is entering the country.
The program had been scheduled to be implemented a year ago, but it was delayed because of concerns the requirements would cause backups at the border and hurt cross-border commerce.
The extra year gave the Department of Homeland Security time to install special technology that can read a new generation of documents and speed the process. It also gave time for people along the border to prepare by getting passports, passport cards, special enhanced drivers' licenses now issued by four states and some Canadian provinces or other documents.
Even now, border agents won't turn away people who arrive without the required identification, "but it's going to take them a little longer to make sure they are who they say they are," said John Makolin, the Customs and Border Protection port director responsible for Vermont and New Hampshire.
At the busiest passenger crossing along the northern border, the Peace Bridge between Buffalo, N.Y., and Fort Erie, Ontario, traffic was flowing smoothly. Customs and Border Protection officers reported that 95 percent of travelers had the needed documents.
Jessica Whitaker of London, Ontario, was among those who didn't. When she crossed the bridge into Buffalo, she had only her birth certificate and driver's license. Agents still let her in to let her take a friend to the airport in Buffalo.
"It was fine. I was expecting a big lineup. They let me in with a warning," Whitaker said.
In Vermont and New Hampshire, 98 percent to 99 percent of people crossing the border had the needed documents Monday, Makolin said.
In Maine, there's a push to get people the passports or passport cards they need to cross the border easily. Several satellite locations and one-time workshops have helped speed up processing for people needing to cross the border. Librarians were picking up some of the slack, and some were processing paperwork for people at night or on weekends.
"Most of our folks have gotten the message. There's always going to be one or two stragglers out there that were maybe living in denial," said Lisa Shaw, reference librarian at Presque Isle's Turner Memorial Library in northern Maine, which processed dozens of documents.
Officials with Vermont's business community say they're hopeful the new rules won't hurt commerce, said Tim Shea, the vice president of the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, who had voiced concerns in the past.
Shea said he hadn't heard any complaints on the first day, but said "the true barometer is when you have the Canadian holidays," the first of which comes later this month.
35