The Wall Street Journal-20080118-Politics -amp- Economics- Chertoff Border Plan Criticized- Tighter Canada Rules Encounter Resistance In Congress- Business
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Politics & Economics: Chertoff Border Plan Criticized; Tighter Canada Rules Encounter Resistance In Congress, Business
After his decision to tighten regulations at the U.S.-Canada border at the end of the month, Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff is facing intensifying pressure from powerful members of Congress and transborder business interests.
Starting Jan. 31, border agents will no longer accept oral declarations of citizenship for people wishing to enter the U.S. from Canada. Instead, travelers will need a state-issued photo ID and proof of citizenship such as a birth certificate, a move officials say is necessary to prevent another Sept. 11-style attack.
Mr. Chertoff acknowledged that new border-crossing rules will mean longer lines for those entering the U.S. but said the move is necessary.
"I can guarantee if we don't make this change, eventually there will come a time when someone will come across the border exploiting the vulnerabilities in the system," Mr. Chertoff told the Associated Press yesterday.
Delays and traffic backups caused by the implementation of security regulations along the northern border have plagued tourists and businesses since 2001. Last year when passports were mandated for air travelers coming to the U.S. from Canada, passport offices in both countries were overwhelmed.
In October, Jim Prentice, Canada's minister of industry, said border delays cost the Ontario and U.S. economies $13.6 billion a year.
"We're seeing between 15% and 25% increases imposed by truckers to ship our product across the border," said Anthony Sanzio, a spokesman for Campbell Soup Co.
Amid concerns that additional delays would harm the economies of border states, President Bush signed a bill last month that postponed the implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative until June of 2009. The WHTI will require travelers at all U.S. ports of entry to present a valid passport or one of several enhanced licenses or passcards.
In a statement yesterday, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.) condemned the secretary's decision as cavalier and against the will of Congress. "The looming requirement for birth certificates at the northern border is poorly planned, and with concerns about a recession on the way, the timing for clamping down on billions of dollars in trade and travel could not be worse," Sen. Leahy said.
Mr. Chertoff said in a letter yesterday to Sen. Leahy that he is relying on traditional Customs and Border Protection authority and discretion to enforce the rules and that the change isn't connected with WHTI.
Concern over bureaucracy at the border crystallized in November when a fire ripped through the landmark Anchorage Inn restaurant in upstate New York. Two fire-engine crews from Quebec raced to the scene. Both were stopped for questioning at the border a few miles away. The restaurant burned to the ground.
Border communities fear new regulations could cause even more problems. "It could be devastating," said Bill Stenger, president of Jay Peak Resort, three miles south of the border in Vermont. Half of Mr. Stenger's customers come from Canada.
Susan Matton, vice president for economic development for the Plattsburgh North Country Chamber of Commerce, 17 miles south of the border in New York, said Canadians spent $310 million last year in her county, which has a population of about 80,000.
"The danger is that people become so confused about what they need to cross the border that they don't come at all," Ms. Matton said.
Mr. Chertoff said that from October to December 2007, Customs and Border Protection officers reported 1,517 false oral claims by individuals claiming to be U.S. citizens who weren't. One person making that claim turned out to have an outstanding arrest warrant for homicide in California.
