Longer waits, tighter scrutiny, along U.S. borders
Border agents along the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders are already rehearsing for January rule which which will require Americans to show a passport or other proof of citizenship to enter, or re-enter, the United States, resulting in delays and slowed commerce
The debate on immigration policy is continuing, but steps already taken to step up scrutiny of Americans returning home from Mexico are slowing commerce and creating delays at border crossings not seen since the months after the 9/11. The New York Times’s Juila Preston writes that the increased enforcement is in part a dress rehearsal for new rules planned to be implemented in January, which will require Americans to show a passport or other proof of citizenship to enter, or re-enter, the United States. The requirements were approved by Congress as part of antiterrorism legislation in 2004. Border officials said agents along the U.S.-Mexico border were asking more returning United States citizens to show a photo identity document. At the same time, agents are increasing the frequency of what they call queries, in which they check a traveler’s information against law enforcement, immigration and antiterror databases.
The new policy is a reversal of practices which were in place for decades, which saw Americans who arrived at land border crossings merely declare they were citizens and were waved on through. Since border agents began ramping up enforcement in August, wait times at border stations in Texas have often increased to two hours or more, discouraging visitors and shoppers and upsetting local business. The delays could remain a fact of life across the southern border for the next few years, border officials told Preston, at least until new security technology and expanded entry stations are installed and until Americans get used to being checked and questioned like foreigners. Last year 234 million travelers entered the United States through land border crossings from Mexico. Ralph Basham, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), said longer waits had resulted from added security measures at border stations which in many cases were aging, outmoded, and facing surging traffic. Saying the new document checks were a “security imperative,” Basham called on border cities, which own many of the crossing bridges, to invest in expanding the entry points. In the meantime, Basham said, “A safer border is well worth the wait.”
Wait times of up to three hours have also been reported over the past few months at crossings from eastern Canada. Senator Bernard Sanders (I-Vermont), said low staffing at border stations was the primary cause there.
