Thread: Border traffic moves easily with stricter ID code

Border traffic moves easily with stricter ID code

By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN, The Associated Press
11:04 a.m. June 1, 2009

HIDALGO, Texas — Car and pedestrian traffic flowed smoothy through U.S. border crossings Monday, the first day that Americans coming home from Mexico and Canada faced stricter identification requirements, officials and travelers said.

About 10 cars, typical for a morning commute, were backed up on the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge near McAllen, Texas, early on the first day of full compliance with the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.
But at the normally busy San Diego crossing, traffic was unusually light.
Until now, U.S. citizens could re-enter the country with various types of identification. Now a passport, passport card or special secure driver's license are among a handful of accepted IDs.

Yvonne Rivera, a U.S. citizen who lives in Reynosa, Mexico, and commutes across the border for work in Texas, said she got her passport three months ago because she knew the rule change was coming. The 22-year-old pedestrian breezed through the crossing.
"There was nothing. Everything is all right," Rivera said.

At the busiest passenger crossing along the northern border, the Peace Bridge between Buffalo, N.Y., and Fort Erie, Ontario, traffic flowed smoothly with Customs and Border Protection officers reporting a 95 percent compliance rate with the new ID requirement. The Peace Bridge handled 8.9 million autos and 47,100 commercial buses in 2008.
Marya Grande of Williamsville, N.Y., was returning home with her 4-year-old and 5-month-old sons from Crystal Beach, Ontario, and had "trusted traveler" cards – for people who have undergone special background checks – for herself and one of her sons. The family had misplaced one child's card so Grande had his birth certificate. All entered without a problem.

"I think it's a great idea because as a U.S. citizen I like to know they're taking care of our borders," Grande said.

Leslie Dritsas, of Apache Junction, Ariz., didn't know about the change but had her passport anyway at the Buffalo entry point. She got hers a couple of years ago after having a bad experience entering the U.S. even though she had her driver's license, birth certificate and Social Security card.

"They didn't believe I was an American citizen. It was horrible. This time with the passport, it was much easier, so I'm for it," said Dritsas, whose husband is a Canadian citizen.

Traffic at San Diego's busy San Ysidro border crossing is down about 12 percent from last year, partly due to the weak economy and fears of swine flu, said Oscar Preciado, the port director for the CBP.

About 85 percent of the U.S. citizens filing through the crossing Monday carried a passport or other acceptable travel document, he said. Others were waved through after being handed a sheet of paper that said they were not complying with the new rules.
"It's a nonevent," Preciado said.

The new requirement also did not cause any delays at Highgate Springs, Vermont's largest entry point from Canada. Two lanes were open and there was hardly any wait.

Daphnee Roy, 23, of Montreal, who was driving to Boston with a friend, said after passing through that the crossing was the same as always.
"It's no big deal."

Customs and Border Protection area port director John Makolin said people who don't have the right documents can still enter, but it'll take longer than usual as Customs workers try to verify their identities some other way.

That wasn't Mauro Guerra's experience when the 27-year-old U.S. citizen crossed the border on his way to work at an auto parts store in McAllen, Texas. He said he hadn't had time to get a passport but got through the same way he always has: with a birth certificate and photo ID.
"They didn't say anything," Guerra said.
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Associated Press writers Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, N.Y., Wilson Ring in Highgate Springs, Vt., and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/ ... dex=109045

Yvonne Rivera, a U.S. citizen who lives in Reynosa, Mexico, and commutes across the border for work in Texas, said she got her passport three months ago because she knew the rule change was coming. The 22-year-old pedestrian breezed through the crossing.

Must be nice to make your money in the United States and live in Mexico. It's an established fact that Mexico's cost of living is much lower than that of the United States. Truth be known, Yvonne Rivera is probably a dual citizen.

Short lines, high compliance with new re-entry rules

By Leslie Berestein, Union-Tribune Staff Writer
12:19 p.m. June 1, 2009

SAN DIEGO — Federal officials said 80 to 90 percent of the U.S. citizens re-entering the United States by land were carrying a passport or other secure document Monday morning, the first day of new travel regulations requiring passports, a passport card, a SENTRI pass or similar trusted traveler document to reenter the country by land or sea.

Border waits at 7 a.m. at the San Ysidro port of entry were a little over an hour, which isn't unusual for a Monday morning, when both U.S. and Mexican citizens who live in Baja California commute north to jobs in San Diego County.

Waiting in line in a minivan with her stepfather and her four children, Mariana Perez of Imperial Beach carried her passport, along with a file folder containing passport receipts and birth certificates for her kids.

“These are OK, right?â€

Few delays as new border rules start


Posted 9m ago
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ON THE BORDER

Here are the USA's five busiest border crossings for truck traffic in 2008.

City name Number of trucks crossings

1. Detroit 1.6 million

2. Laredo, Texas 1.58 million

3. Buffalo/Niagra Falls, N.Y. 1 million

4. Otay Mesa, Calif. 790,175 (San Diego, CA.)

5. El Paso, Texas 776,954

6. Port Huron, Mich. 757,217

7. Hidalgo, Texas 488,588

8. Champlain-Rouses Point, N.Y. 375,823

9. Blaine, Wash. 336,925

10. Calexico East, Calif. 334,672

Source: U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency
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Gannett
New federal rules took effect Monday requiring anyone entering the country by land or sea — including U.S. citizens — to show a passport or other approved document.

Border officials reported no major delays, with agents using Day One as more of an exercise in education.

U.S. citizens returning home at the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry in Nogales, Ariz., were waved through even if they didn't have the proper ID and handed a flyer explaining the new requirements.

Edith Serrano, a public affairs supervisor for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said agents will try to help people through as long as they have some form of legitimate identification.

"It might delay them a little, but we are not going to deny a U.S. citizen from coming back from Mexico," Serrano said.

Kevin Corsaro, spokesman for the customs field office in Buffalo, said about 90% of travelers entering the U.S. were showing one of the IDs now required: a passport, passport card, enhanced driver's license or "trusted traveler" card.

"We really believe we've done our part to get the word out that the law was changing," Corsaro said.

No delays were reported at Detroit's two crossings with Ontario, Canada — the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel — or at the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, Mich.

The stepped-up ID requirements are the final phase of an anti-terrorism policy called the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. The law has been enacted in stages, with numerous delays because of concerns the rules might interfere with tourism and commerce.

Even before the new requirements took effect, air travelers needed a passport to enter the U.S.

Rosemary Law, 70, of Amherst, N.Y., was pleased with the new security measures.

"It's the only way to go," said Law, who was crossing the border into Canada at the Peace Bridge in Buffalo. "You feel safer."

Karla Astorga, 22, of Nogales, Ariz., thinks the new regulations will make it easier for her to cross the border, which she does nearly every work day to take her child to a nanny in Mexico.

She did not have the newly necessary identification Monday, although she did have a receipt proving she had applied for a passport card.

"I think it is going to be better, because you'll just be able to show the card and go through," Astorga said. "Before, they asked you a lot of questions."

Another reason the lines may get shorter: The nation's busiest border crossings have received new equipment that reads small chips embedded in passport cards, enhanced driver's licenses and trusted traveler cards as people pull into an inspection booth.

The chips, which also are in passports issued since August 2007, contain a unique identification number that links with a database. Once a chip is read, customs officers have on their computer screen everything they need to know about a traveler.

Customs officials said the new requirements won't be strictly enforced until later this year, granting more time for people unaware of the changes.

Those attempting to come back into the country without a passport or approved paperwork were subject to short waits for citizenship verification and given handouts on how to comply.

For more information, go to www.getyouhome.gov.

Contributing: Matt Helms, Detroit Free Press; Bennett Loudon, (Rochester, N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle; Daniel Gonzales, Ken Alltucker and John Faherty, The Arizona Republic; Stephen Tait, (Port Huron, Mich.) Times Herald.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/200 ... ules_N.htm