Border passport requirement delayed

CALAIS – Travelers entering the United States by land this year won’t need a passport now that President Bush has signed the omnibus spending bill into law.

Tucked inside that law signed on Dec. 26, 2007, is a provision known as the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative that pushed back a plan by the Department of Homeland Security to require passports from travelers crossing the borders from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean by a year.

That is good news for this community of nearly 4,000 that shares a border with neighboring St. Stephen, New Brunswick. Right now the community has two crossings, the downtown Ferry Point Bridge and the Milltown Bridge near the city’s Industrial Park. Sometime this year a new $100 million bridge is expected to open to accommodate travelers coming and going across the border.

Under the newly signed law, passports will not be required at border crossings on land until June 2009. Those traveling by airplane or boat, however, must display a passport when entering the United States.

Crossing the border on a daily basis is a way of life for people in Calais and St. Stephen. Part of the Calais economy depends on Canadians who regularly buy gasoline at local filling stations and shop in area stores.

“We’re pleased,” City Manager Diane Barnes said Tuesday. “Because now we don’t have to worry about the restrictions upon people traveling back and forth across the border by land.”

Barnes said she hopes by next year, the government will have some kind of program in place that will allow people to cross the border without the expense of having to purchase a passport.

The city manager is not the only one who is pleased with the delay.

“I am glad we were able to buy a little time with this,” Calais Mayor Vinton Cassidy said Tuesday. “The concept of passports I think will be essential in the world we live in today, however, we also need to have a smooth transition for our border communities and for our local residents.”

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins agreed Tuesday that the delay of this initiative was welcome news. Collins is ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. “For many Mainers, quick and easy border crossing is crucial in order to access essential services, to travel to their jobs, to attend church and to visit family and friends,” Collins added. “It is important that we strike a balance between the security of our nation’s borders and the free flow of commerce and travel to and from the United States.”

The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative – or passport rule – was signed into law in 2004. The law required all individuals crossing the borders from Canada and Mexico to carry passports or documents deemed sufficient by DHS to denote identity and citizenship.

Collins also was successful in her efforts to encourage DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff to waive the passport rule for children, a news release from Collins’ office said. “Sen. Collins has also been successful in her efforts to delay full implementation of this measure while DHS works to identify alternative, less expensive forms of identification that take the needs of frequent travelers residing in border communities into account,” the release added.

Even though the passport requirement has been postponed, New Englanders and others will still need birth certificates or similar identification to enter the United States by land beginning Jan. 31.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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