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 Editorials | October 2007 
Is the U.S. Ready for New Border Requirement?
 Caller-Times
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Crossing the Mexican border for a day's shopping or an evening's entertainment is part of the charm of living in the border region of South Texas. It's as much a part of the culture as going to a Friday night football game. There's nothing foreign about leaving the country for a trip to Nuevo Progeso or Matamoros. The return trip, including the obligatory declaration of citizenship at the U.S. border station, is part of the experience.
As of Jan. 31, that trip to Mexico, or rather the return to the United States, will be different. For one, travelers can likely expect the wait at the crossing to be longer and more trying for even the most patient. This is because Americans returning to the United States, even from just a few hours visit to Mexico, will have to present a U.S. passport, or a document that proves citizenship, such as a birth certificate along with a government-issued identification card with a photo. No longer will a simple declaration of citizenship be sufficient.
Potential for disruption
Consider that some 230 million people cross each year at the American border with Mexico. Consider further that some 80 percent of the more than $300 billion in trade between Mexico and the United States moves on trucks that cross the border. The potential for major disruption of the economic, cultural and even familial ties that link American and Mexican border communities is great.
In a dress rehearsal, as reported by The New York Times, border agents have already begun questioning returning American travelers more intensively than has been done before. The results so far have been ever-lengthening lines of people and vehicles stacked up at the border stations, with waits extending to hours.
At a time when exposure to terrorism threats are especially sensitive, it's clear that a simple declaration of citizenship was no longer viable. But the ability of the U.S. government to anticipate and prepare for what is sure to be a dramatic change in the way business is done at the border is not reassuring.
The administration was inexcusably caught by surprise by the surge of passport applications, seemingly blind to the demand that would follow once a passport was required for re-entry from Mexico, Canada, Bermuda and the Caribbean. The administration's passport process was so bogged down that the initial phases of the program, requiring a passport for air travelers to those countries and areas, had to be suspended temporarily.
The aim of the program - called the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative - is to have a record of every person who enters the United States. This is an ambitious goal, but it is one that requires substantial resources, especially if the goal can be achieved without disrupting the flow of people, business and relationships that crosses back and forth over the Texas-Mexico border. This is not just a Texas problem. U.S. communities at the Canadian border already are reporting significant traffic tie-ups.
If the Bush administration is to meet its goal, the border stations have to be expanded, more agents have to be hired, more computers have to be brought on line to minimize the disruption. Anything less means that border communities - and by extension the border regions like South Texas - will have to bear the burden for the administration's unpreparedness.
The Bush administration has beefed up the Border Patrol and added to its equipment. But far less has been done to enhance the ability of the border stations to process the expected millions of Americans who cross into Mexico and Canada every day and then re-enter, sometimes within a few hours after departing. The goal of improving national security could cause a major disruption, with a huge cost to commerce, communication, and the social relationships that makes the border such a special place. |
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