Border checks go off without a hitch U.S. shows early leniency as new rules take effect

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CALAIS – Tougher identification rules went into effect Thursday along the nation’s borders, but there appeared to be little added delay as travelers unprepared for the change were in many cases allowed to cross with a warning.

Most people entering the country through at least three border crossings in Maine were prepared for the new Homeland Security rules requiring either a passport or one form of photo identification and proof of citizenship.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said they would be flexible about enforcing the new rules at first, and they were.

Motorists pulled up to the U.S. Custom’s booth in Calais in Washington County, handed over their identification and waited. Those who did not have a passport or birth certificate were given a narrow sheet of paper explaining the new rules.

“The whole thing is just an educational process and all we are doing is saying as of today these are the requirements and here is a thing that explains it,” said Tim Donnell, assistant port director in Calais. “And that is all we are doing. Our experience is most everyone is already prepared.”

And Donnell should know.

Of the 4 million cars and trucks that enter Maine each year, 1 million cars and 150,000 trucks enter at the Calais ports. “I would say we are the busiest of the small ports on the Canadian border,” he said. “We are a small port compared to the Buffalo [New York] ports.”

Two crossings, the downtown Ferry Point Bridge and the Milltown Bridge near the city’s industrial park, connect Calais with St. Stephen, New Brunswick. A third bridge is in the early stages of construction and is expected to be ready in September.

Until Thursday, a picture identification and a declaration of citizenship were enough for travelers to enter the U.S., but the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and increased national worries about future terrorism have brought changes in how visitors to the country are viewed. On Thursday, the educational phase of the rule changes went into effect. Next year, a passport will be required.

But locals don’t think a lot about terrorism as they visit back and forth between Maine and New Brunswick. In Calais, Canadians cross the border from neighboring St. Stephen to visit family, buy cheap gasoline and even cheaper milk in addition to making their weekly pilgrimage to the local Wal-Mart. Americans head to St. Stephen to see family, shop and visit the local pool parlor.

St. Stephen Mayor Allen Gillmor predicts there will be a small slump in cross-border shopping while New Brunswickers scurry to get birth certificates.

“I think eventually people will get the proper identification, and I guess it’s here for an eternity, if I can say that, which is unfortunate, unless there is a lessening of those terrorism scares,” he said.

The Canadian official also recalled when identity cards had been required once before, years ago.

Gillmor, who has one foot in each country because his mother was born in Canada and his father in the United States, said he remembers his parents talking about identity cards. “That card was in place during [World War II], and it was dropped afterward. Maybe [someday] the world will return to being a better place [and it will be dropped again],” he said.

But there are worries about the new requirements.

Calais officials fear there will be even longer delays once the new rules become hard and fast. Last summer, motorists waited for as long as two hours to cross the border into the U.S. as restrictions tightened.

Calais City Manager Diane Barnes will have her hands full this summer with infrastructure changes in the city that include not only the new bridge and road on North Street, but also sewer and road reconstruction on South Street. Couple those projects with frustrated tourists trying to get back to their country and that could add up to a red-hot summer for city officials.

Customs and Border Protection spokesman Ted Woo said Thursday border officials have taken infrastructure problems into account.

“The manager is prepared to do what is necessary to alleviate some of those issues. We monitor wait times not just at the ports of entry, but everywhere – at the airport and seaport entries – as well. So that is something we really keep a close eye on,” he said.

While summer may be a worry for city officials, things went smoothly with what local residents dubbed as “opening day” on the border.

Angie Reid of St. Stephen, who had just passed through the border crossing, was buying gasoline at the Irving station in Calais, which she does every week. She said she knew about the changes and came prepared with the proper identification.

As did Peter Craig, also of St. Stephen, who was buying gas. He held up a small plastic holder. “This is what they asked us to do; they asked us to put our driver’s license on one side and our birth certificate [which was the same size as his driver’s license] on the other side,” he said.

Craig said he spends about $400 a month in Calais on gasoline and groceries. A liter of gas in Canada costs almost twice as much as it does in Calais, while milk, another popular purchase among Canadians, is $7 in New Brunswick and less than $4 in Calais.

Craig had a solution for the cross border delays, pointing to Europe as an example of what works elsewhere.

“What they should be doing is taking out the Canadian-U.S. border the whole way across the continent and solidifying North America. The money they are spending on the American and Canadian sides – the billions of dollars protecting the borders that don’t need to be watched. They could put a circumference around North America [making it one large country]. It would be cheaper, [and] then your problems are over,” he said as he screwed the cover back on his gas tank.

There were no bottlenecks or long lines at the crossings at Madawaska in Aroostook County or at Jackman in Somerset County.

At midday, a line of mostly Canadian vehicles stretched three-quarters of the length of the international bridge between Madawaska and Edmundston, New Brunswick. Traffic moved quickly, each vehicle taking from 15 seconds to a minute to process as Homeland Security officers checked occupants for the required identification. Every now and then, a vehicle would be sent to a separate area for a secondary inspection.

Customs and Border Inspection officials working the border’s ports of entry in the St. John Valley would not discuss how the new procedures were working, nor how well citizens were accepting them as part of daily life. They referred such inquiries to a press officer in Boston.

Herman Sinclair and his wife Lise Sinclair of Sinclair were among those crossing at Madawaska. Herman Sinclair said that while the bridge was nearly full when they arrived, the crossing only took about 10 minutes and that he has seen it worse. The Sinclairs both had their passports.

St. Agatha Town Clerk Kelly Thibodeau said local people have been seeking original birth certificates from the town office since last week. She reported supplying 20 residents with the needed document just in the past week.

Tim Lausier, owner of Bob’s Service Center on Main Street in Madawaska, said he had not heard any complaints from customers and sales seemed to be normal. Canadians who shop for gasoline, milk, cigarettes and other everyday conveniences represent a large part of his clientele.

Steve Hughes, executive director of the Greater Madawaska Chamber of Commerce, said he was unaware of any problems and had heard no complaints from Main Street retailers about the new process.

He said the chamber, which is preparing for the town’s International Snowmobile Festival this weekend, has fielded several inquiries from snowmobiling enthusiasts about the border crossing requirements, and that education on the changes has constituted a large part of the information the chamber has given out on the festival.

At Jackman, officials called the change to new identification requirements “a non-event.”

Listed as a freight crossing, it was clear that commerce, not tourism, was on the minds of travelers here. In two hours Thursday morning, 17 tractor-trailers and only two private vehicles passed into the U.S. from Canada. It took a Bangor Daily News reporter three times longer to get cleared by security to talk to border officials than it took to drive into Canada, make a U-turn and go through the identity check at the U.S. border station.

“This is pretty typical,” border superintendent Francis LaCasse said.

Those passing through, however, appeared prepared for the new regulations.

Martin Morin, 34, of St. Pamphile, Quebec, was hauling logs and knew of the change, according to LaCasse, who translated Morin’s French. Morin presented a “fast card,” also known as a Trusted Traveler Card, as identification and was ready when he stopped.

Damien Parent, 33, of Lincoln was hauling wood chips from Canada to Jay for S & S Transport of Lincoln. He also was ready with his birth certificate and “fast card.”

“This only takes a few extra seconds,” Parent said.

Patty Gilbert was returning home to Jackman from an appointment with a Canadian dentist for her daughter, Kendra, 11. “I always present our birth certificates and my license,” Patty Gilbert said. “I go back and forth all the time, and it is quick and easy.”

Even when one truck driver didn’t have the correct identification, he was allowed to cross the border. “We know him,” said LaCasse. “He comes through every day, and we are really in the education phase of compliance.” The man explained to LaCasse in French that he had left his passport at home along with his birth certificate, but would be prepared next time.

The busiest bodies at the Jackman facility were two ravens that had positioned themselves at the U.S. crossing.

“They’re waiting for some fruit or meat to be confiscated,” LaCasse said. “Then they take the top off the bucket and steal the food.” The ravens were out of luck Thursday because nothing was confiscated.

BDN reporter Sharon Mack, freelance reporter Beurmond Banville and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

These are the rules for now

U.S. and Canadian citizens entering the country are no longer allowed to simply declare to immigration officers at border crossings that they are citizens. Instead, those 19 and older must show proof of citizenship, such as a passport or a “trusted traveler” card issued to frequent border crossers. Driver’s licenses must be accompanied by proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate.

The rules eventually will get even tougher for U.S. citizens entering the country from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean because of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which Congress approved in 2004.

The driver’s license-birth certificate combination will not be allowed when the law is fully implemented, but that has been delayed at land and sea crossings until June 2009.

Mexican citizens will continue to have to present valid passports and visas. Canadian citizens previously were not required to show a passport but will need one after next year.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS