| | |  Travel & Outdoors | June 2009 
New US Visa Rules in Effect
 Associated Press
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New rules requiring passports or new high-tech documents to cross the U.S. border into Mexico and Canada are taking effect Monday, as some rue the tightening of security and others hail it as long overdue.
In 2001 a U.S. driver's license and an oral declaration of citizenship were enough to cross the Canadian and Mexican borders; Monday's changes are the last step in a gradual ratcheting up of the rules. Now thousands of U.S. citizens are preparing by applying for passports or obtaining special driver's licenses that can also be used to cross the border.
In one Texas border community, long lines were reported at a local courthouse Sunday as people rushed to apply for the required documents to come to Mexico. But it remains to be seen if the new requirement will cause traffic backups at points of entry and headaches for people unaware of the looming change.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials say they're confident the transition will be smooth.
"Our research indicates approximately 80 percent of the individuals coming in now, U.S. and Canadians, are compliant," and are crossing with proof of citizenship, said Thomas Winkowski, assistant commissioner for field operations at Customs and Border Protection.
The higher noncompliance areas, he said, are primarily U.S. citizens in the south. In Weslaco, Texas, Jesus Gonzalez said he crosses into Mexico about three times a month, but he had not yet applied for any of the documents. Asked if the new requirement would affect him, he pointed toward Nuevo Progreso, Tamaulipas: "It's going to affect them more," he said. "Businesses are going to hurt a tad bit and I feel sorry for them." |
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