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Thursday » March 27 » 2003
U.S. might add layer at border
Two stops each way
Bill Curry
National Post
Thursday, March 27, 2003
OTTAWA - Canadians would face two stops each time they cross the border
into or out of the United States under a plan being considered by
American officials.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is already looking at the
purchase of land near several border crossings where it could build
stations to track the entry and exit of all visitors to the United
States.
Under the system, people entering the United States would be stopped
first at the existing border station, and again further down the road
at a checkpoint where their presence in the country would be registered.
On their return leg, they would stop at an American station to register
their departure before going on to the Canadian customs and immigration
station.
Robert Fonberg, the senior official in Canada's Privy Council Office
who is in charge of the Borders Task Force, recently told the Senate
national security and defence committee Canada is lobbying to be
exempted from the "cumbersome" entry-exit system.
"That has potentially substantial and disruptive implications for
border flows," he said. "It means that you are effectively checked
twice. You are stopped on the way out. Your documents are picked up.
Then you are stopped on the way into Canada. Within a short
geographical space, you are stopped twice."
Opposition critics say the recent tensions between Ottawa and
Washington over the war in Iraq make it unlikely Canada will receive
any special consideration.
The U.S. Congress passed a law after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks
requiring that a system be set up to track everyone who enters and
leaves the United States. It will allow officials to cross-reference
the identity of all visitors with databases of criminals and people
considered potential security threats.
Congress has said it must be in place by 2004.
"This option could involve construction of a lot of new
infrastructure," said an official from the Department of Homeland
Security who asked not to be named. The official also stressed,
however, the two-stop border scenario is only one of several options
being discussed.
"I can't overemphasize the fact that there are a lot of 't's and 'i's
in all of this and plenty of them need to be dotted and crossed."
He said the United States is also considering a second option that
would see Canadian border officials handling the entry-exit
registration. However, both Mr. Fonberg and Graham Flack, another
senior PCO official with the Borders Task Force, said their sense is
the United States is leaning toward the two-stop system.
Mr. Flack told the Senate committee that while U.S. politicians
representing northern border states had blocked a similar proposal in
the late 1990s as too costly and cumbersome, "the mood has shifted
dramatically."
"The funding will be there, even if it is immense, to the point where
the U.S. administration or, now, the Department of Homeland Security
has begun to scout for land that might be used to set up the exit
booths," Mr. Flack said, adding some border crossings could be affected
as early as 2004.
This week, George W. Bush, the U.S. President, asked Congress for
US$480-million to implement the entry-exit system. Democratic and
Republican Congressmen have since called for even more money to be
spent on border security.
On Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci would say only that there are
"ongoing discussions" about exempting Canadian citizens from the
program. He said in a speech in Toronto the U.S. government is upset
and disappointed by Canada's decision not to join the war in Iraq and
criticized comments against Mr. Bush.
Mr. Cellucci also said the United States now considers security to be
more important than trade and warned that Canada's decision not to join
the war in Iraq could cause "short-term strains."
Jason Kenney, the Canadian Alliance critic for Canada-U.S. relations,
insisted Canada's position on the war will definitely affect
negotiations on the entry-exit system. "It's going to make it a whole
lot harder for us to get an exemption," he said. "We have further
eroded our already diminished political capital in Washington, so when
it comes to seeking special preferences for Canada, we are going to be
toward the back of the line, when we used to be at the front of it."
Mr. Kenny said Mr. Fonberg was "severely understating" the problems the
plan could pose for Canadians, predicting the additional border delays
could cost the Canadian economy billions.
"Unfortunately, we're no longer regarded in Washington as the reliable
and secure friend we once were and Canadians are going to pay the price
for it economically."
Last December, John Manley, the Deputy Prime Minister, met with Tom
Ridge, the head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, at the
White House to discuss border issues. After the meeting, Mr. Manley
told reporters the proposed entry-exit plan would "would turn cities
like Detroit into a parking lot."
"Quite frankly, we don't know how we're going to work this one out ...
a system that tries to list every U.S. and Canadian citizen crossing
the border in both directions, I don't believe it can be done," Manley
said at the time.
Mr. Ridge said there were still many details to be worked out, but "we
think we can get it done."
One of Mr. Ridge's senior officials told a U.S. Senate committee
earlier this month the entry-exit system will be in place by Dec. 31,
2003, at airports and seaports.
Mr. Manley confirmed there are two main options on the table -- a
two-stop system or charging Canadian border officials with some of the
collection duties.
bcurry@...
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