Slower Canadian border crossings predicted

By Joel Banner Baird
Free Press Staff Writer

Stricter ID checks at the Canadian border that begin next week have prompted feelings of insecurity in Vermont's business community.

They come in the wake of a good thing.

Last summer's rise in the value of the Canadian dollar translated into a surge in southbound spending in Vermont, said Tim Shea, vice president of the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce in Burlington.

But that surge could evaporate: New requirements will require a photo ID as well as proof of citizenship for residents of both countries. For a traveler without a passport, it means chasing down a birth certificate.

"It's important to remember that Canadians travel to the U.S. by choice," Shea said. "A lot of the trips they make here are last-minute decisions -- just like they are for Americans going to Montreal.

"The chamber's concern is long lines are going to happen," he continued. "And if someone's burned once, they're going to think it's not worth the hassle to come back."

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the new regulations last summer, just as Congress approved a bipartisan measure to delay stricter land-crossing rules until June 2009.

Last week, the differences between executive and legislative agendas surfaced in letters between DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

On Tuesday, Leahy joined Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, in a letter to congressional colleagues, urging them to call for a delay to Chertoff's measure.

Tougher ID checks, the senators wrote, will burden the DHS as well as travelers.

"Since there are nearly 8,000 variations of birth certificates issued by various states, provinces and localities in the United States and Canada, determining the authenticity of a birth certificate provided at the border is a daunting task for our already overstretched CBP agents," the authors state.

Shea shared Leahy's skepticism and the senator's belief that better intelligence would obviate the need for a fine-tooth comb-approach by customs officers.

"We all want a secure border," he said. "These new regulations are not going to increase security and they're going to exact an economic cost. It would not have stopped the 9/11 terrorists.

"It's a mentality of 'security at any cost,' but without improving security," he added. "You can't speed this fix through."

Lift tickets

Bill Stenger, president and CEO of Jay Peak Resort, said he planned to carefully monitor the new regulations.

"You can bet that I'm concerned that the border flow could be slowed down with a double-ID request," he said Monday. "I don't expect it to be easy, but I expect it to be efficient and smooth and welcoming. Any unnecessary delays are stifling and they're wrong."

About half of the guests at Jay Peak are Canadian, Stenger said -- and roughly 70 percent of those are Francophones, whose understanding and pronunciation of English might ordinarily result in a few extra minutes at the border. Customs and Border Protection officers posted along the Quebec border, unlike those in Florida and along the Mexican border, are not required to pass language proficiency tests.

Additional delays could scuttle the resort's appeal to Canadians, he said. "They don't have to come. It's not as if there's not shopping in Quebec or skiing in Quebec. If we don't welcome them here at the border, they just won't wait," he said.

Southern discomfort

Bob Camp, who owns Hero's Welcome General Store in North Hero, said he welcomed, in principle, the heightened border vigilance after the events of Sept. 11, 2001 -- but the official welcome at the border had plenty of room for improvement.

"I heard horror stories all summer from our Canadian visitors," Camp said. "A lot of them had two- or three-hour waits. They said the officers were very, very stern. The message to visitors was, 'You're not welcome. We don't want you coming through. Prove to me that you're not a terrorist.'

"There are three and a half million Quebecers in Montreal," he continued. "It's a very important economy for us. If you can get out of Montreal on a Friday night and you have to be back Sunday evening -- but if part of that weekend is a two-hour wait at the border -- you might reconsider."

Camp has fond memories of earlier, more innocent border crossings. "In the old times it was mostly friendly and very brief," he said. "It'd be a minor interruption in your drive. If you were listening to a song, you'd turn the radio down."

Susan MacKenzie, the manager at As the Crow Flies, a gourmet and kitchen store in St. Albans, said the shop's emphasis on customer service translates into an earful when Canadians feel unwelcome at the border.

"Almost all of them said that no matter what time of day they came through, they had to wait," she said. "Sometimes only two of the eight lines of traffic are open -- and they don't understand why.

"It's ironic," she concluded. "Now that they have some money to spend down here, it's more difficult to get here."

Contact Joel Banner Baird at 660-1843 or joelbaird@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com

WHAT YOU NEED TO CROSS THE BORDER

Just one of these documents should ease your trip across the U.S./Canada border:

Passport ($97) Trusted Traveler cards such as NEXUS ($50 individual; $244.50 family) U.S. Military Identification with Military Travel Orders U.S. Merchant Mariner Document; Native American Tribal Photo Identification Card; U.S. Passport Card ($45)

NO PASSPORT? For adults age 19 and older without a passport or one of the above-mentioned documents, you need BOTH a: Government-issued photo ID, such as a driver's license with photo, name and date of birth -- or a military identification card, AND Proof of citizenship, such as a U.S. or Canadian birth certificate issued by a federal, state, provincial, county, territory or municipal authority; or U.S. Consular report of birth abroad; or U.S. Certificate of Naturalization; or U.S. Certificate of Citizenship; or U.S. Citizen Identification Card.

BRINGING THE KIDS? U.S. and Canadian citizens age 18 and older must present a passport ($82) or a birth certificate or a naturalization certificate.

NOT A CITIZEN? U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents must present a Permanent Resident Card (I-551) or other valid evidence of lawful permanent residence. Travelers other than U.S. and Canadian citizens must abide by all existing passport and nonimmigrant visa requirements.

NEED HELP? Passport applications (U.S. Department of State): Tracking down birth certificates (National Center for Health Statistics): Information on how to apply for a Trusted Traveler card (NEXUS) can be found at Customs and Border Protection. Applicants for this pre-screened, low-security ID must also complete an interview in person at the full-service border ports at Derby Line or Champlain, N.Y.