Border Security and Prosperity

 

America's borders—land, sea, and air—are our primary ports of entry for billions of dollars in goods and services, along with millions of tourists, business visitors, workers, and other foreign nationals who contribute to our national economy. The events of September 11, 2001, also indicate that some have used our borders as an entryway for evil and malicious attacks. As a result, many have called for increased checks and "tightening" of our borders. While such proposals are understandable, and improvements are clearly needed, difficult questions remain about the potential severe impact to our economy of any improperly conceived system that does not deal realistically with the vast amount of legitimate traffic, including goods and people, that cross our borders daily. 

Canada is the top trading partner for the U.S., and Mexico is the second highest U.S. trading partner.  The U.S. exports $189 billion a year to Canada, and $110 billion to Mexico.  Billions of border crossings occur each year at both the southern and northern U.S. borders.  For example, over six million trucks come from Canada each year into the U.S., and about four million trucks cross from Mexico.  There is over $1 billion of two-way trade crossing just the northern U.S. border daily. Our borders can and should be a line of defense against those who pose security threats to this country, but borders must also allow for legitimate commerce and travel. Efficient allocation and use of technology, personnel, and infrastructure resources can achieve both of these goals.

In 2004, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rolled out its new entry/exit system at U.S. ports of entry as part of the United States Visitor Immigration Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) system. US-VISIT is to provide an integrated, automated entry/exit system and calls for the recording of the arrival and departure of aliens and that equipment be deployed at all land, air and sea ports of entry to allow for the verification of aliens' identities and the authentication of their travel documents through the comparison of biometric identifiers.  The first phase of US-VISIT, which included taking two digital fingerprints and a digital photograph of visa holders (generally exempting, for now, visitors from visa waiver countries), was implemented at 115 airports and 14 seaports on January 5, 2004.  US-VISIT was implemented at the 50 busiest land border crossings in December 2004, and has been smooth for the most part because DHS has exempted those Mexicans with a border crossing card (also known as BCCs or laser visas), as well as Canadian nationals, from registering with US-VISIT.  DHS has said that they eventually intend to include these currently exempted groups in the years to come, which could cause serious disruptions to border commerce and communities if not implemented properly.

The Chamber is also concerned with the recently announced Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) that will implement new document requirements for U.S. citizens returning to the U.S. from within the Western Hemisphere.  Our main concern with the WHTI is with the implementation of the land border crossing requirements to be phased in by 2008.  It is impossible to quantify with any precision the commercial impact of the new document requirements under the WHTI because we still do not know what the new document requirements will be.  However, it can be reasonably estimated that if the document requirements are too strict the impact on the American economy will be severe. 

U.S. Chamber Position

 

The Chamber, along with its partners in the Americans for Better Borders coalition, will continue to urge the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security to strongly consider all of the costs of the US-VISIT program, and other border security measures like the WHTI.  The Chamber will work to ensure that adequate resources are allocated to these programs so that they effectively identify true risks and help facilitate legitimate low-risk travel and commerce. 

Congress and the Department of Homeland Security need to evaluate any new measures implemented at the border for their potential negative impact on legitimate commerce while maintaining the need for security. Managing the traffic flows by creating secure but expedited processes for low-risk cargo and passengers, using technology systems to "pre-clear" vehicles and passengers before reaching the borders, and investigating joint clearance processes with our northern and southern neighbors are ideas to be considered.  Any system devised must be provided with adequate and sustained funding to ensure proper development, implementation, maintenance, and growth into the future.