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January 31, 2008

and JOE LoTEMPLIO The Press Republican Thu Jan 31, 2008, 11:51 AM EST

Schumer critizes plan, which requires passport or birth certificate with license

By WILSON RING

PLATTSBURGH -- With new regulations for crossing the border going into effect today, the region is bracing for a change.

Travelers crossing the border between the United States and Canada now must show a passport or similar document or both a driver's license and a birth certificate.

The new rules are not sitting well with many.

"The Department of Homeland Security has decided to toss logic to the wind to ram this ill-devised restriction down the throat of our border communities," U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-Brooklyn) said in a statement.

"Plain and simple, this plan is the worst of both worlds: it promotes the use of easy-to-forge documents to travel into our country, and it threatens to create huge backlogs at our border communities that stifle cross-border commerce. The department should be focusing its energies on developing new documents that will both be secure and efficient."

Schumer issued a report entitled, "The Worst of Both Worlds," detailing how the new rules will hamper border crossings and compromise security.

The lengthy report accuses Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff of "double-talk" regarding the use of birth certificates.

The report highlights Chertoff's own past testimony questioning the security and efficiency of using birth certificates.

The report says that birth certificates can be easily forged and that about 8,000 different kinds of documents are used by people crossing the border.

"What it means is that there's no way that even the most accomplished Customs and Border Protection officer can be familiar with all those documents and in a position to quickly confirm whether they are real or fake," Schumer's report said.

Despite objections from Schumer, Rep. John McHugh (R-Pierrepont Manor) and other lawmakers, the new rules will go into effect today, and travelers will need to prepare.

Much of the business at two gas stations on U.S. Route 2 at Vermont's northwestern corner comes from Quebec residents who dart across the border into the United States to take advantage of lower gasoline prices, which can save them almost $1 a gallon.

Locals from Vermont, New York and Quebec who cross the border at Rouses Point regularly know of the changes in documentation.

Those who don't have proper identification when trying to cross won't be turned back or detained. After getting an explanation, they will be given a flyer that explains the rules and allowed into the United States, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.

While not everyone has the needed paperwork, they're ready to comply.

"We shop out here, we buy gas out here. I buy all my groceries," said Don Bedard, 70, of St. Paul, Quebec, about four miles from the Alburg Go Go Mart.

"Right now, I don't have my papers. I've got my license and that's it," Bedard said.

But he's planning to get the needed paperwork.

"I ordered it, but when it's going to come in, it might be a few weeks," said Bedard, gassing up Tuesday with his wife Roseann.

Border officials say they aren't expecting the implementation of the additional documentation requirements to slow down traffic across the border.

"The port of Rouses Point is generally locals, coming from Lacolle, Quebec, or northern Vermont," said Michael McMullen, chief inspector for U.S. Customs and Border Protection at Champlain who is also responsible for Rouses Point.

"The locals up in this area have already begun the process of getting the proper WHTI documents," McMullen said, referring to the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. "And this has been going on for probably a couple years now or more."

He says the change in ID requirements shouldn't affect travel plans.

"One of the messages we want to get out to the traveling public is do not change your travel plans for January 31st. We want you to go ahead and travel. This is an opportunity, an education phase where people can learn what they will need for the future."

Alburg is a peninsula of land -- surrounded on three sides by Lake Champlain -- that reaches down from Quebec. The two gas stations at the edge of Lake Champlain take advantage of lower gas prices from New York.

Some people are willing to travel long distances for a cheaper gallon of gas.

On Tuesday, Jean Groulx, 79, from the Montreal suburb of Greenfield Park, said he drove to the Short Stop convenience store on Route 2 for a cheaper tank of gas.

He says he's had a summer home near Lake Champlain for 15 years. Groulx said he'd never had any trouble crossing the border, and doesn't expect any in the future.

"I'm a good boy, you see," Groulx said.