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Travelers Met With Stricter Rules At Border Crossings

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By DAVID RUNK, The Associated Press

Published: February 1, 2008

DETROIT - 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.

Rather than seeing a bottleneck over the Ambassador Bridge into Detroit, truck driver Paul Kraus said, "It's actually slow today." The 42-year-old regularly crosses the bridge from Windsor, Ontario, and said he always carries required documents.

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.

Orville McFarlane of San Diego had just his driver's license as he returned from a sports betting parlor in Tijuana, Mexico, but still was allowed past San Diego's main border crossing.

"I was taken aback a little bit" about being asked for a birth certificate, the 36-year-old pharmacy technician said. "I said I didn't have it. He gave me a reminder slip."
Customs officials said delays were minimal and most motorists had the documentation they needed.

"Very much business as usual," U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Kelly Klundt said in an e-mail, adding, "Preliminary reports are showing a high level of awareness and compliance."

Officers at the ports had latitude to admit people who were unaware of the changes once their identities were confirmed, and many points were offering a grace period and handing out fliers explaining the changes.

On the U.S. side of the border in Progreso, Texas, those returning from a trip across the Rio Grande to Nuevo Progreso, Mexico, carried bags of prescription drugs, cigarettes, liquor and crafts. Bobby and Genice Bogard of Greers Ferry, Ark., crossed so Genice could get a tooth capped.

The Bogards, who winter in Mission, Texas, knew the requirements were coming but thought they took effect in June. So even though they have U.S. passports, they had left them at home, they said.

"He allowed us to pass with a driver's license," Bobby Bogard said of a border agent.

Others were ready for the new rules, or said they have grown accustomed to carrying citizenship documents since security tightened after the Sept. 11 attacks. At the Canadian border's Peace Bridge, officials said most travelers entering Buffalo, N.Y., from Fort Erie, Ontario, had proper documentation.

"I always come across with my passport," said Fred Goetz of Burlington, Ontario.

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 and 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.

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