Border Trade Alliance

BTA apprehensive of yet another ambiguous phase.

The Border Trade Alliance (BTA) is concerned that the June 20th’s announcement that the Department of State (DOS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have revised their intended time frame to implement the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) for land and sea ports of entry. Last year Congress approved an 18-month delay for the deadline for implementing WHTI as part of the Stevens-Leahy amendment to the FY07 Homeland Security Appropriations bill, supported by the BTA. However, despite the deadline delay, DHS and DOS have publicly stated their intention to implement the secured traveler program prior to the statutory deadline and as early as January of 2008.

WHTI for air travel was implemented in January of this year and has resulted in a backlog of 500,000 passport applications leading to today’s announcement. Even with expedited processing for passports, for which there are additional fees, there is at least a two month delay in these applications. “We expressed our concern to DHS and State from day one that we feared that this law would result in a deluge of applications and serious backlogs in the application process. Unfortunately, we have been proven right on this,” stated Pete Sepulveda, Chair of the BTA. Recently, DHS and DOS announced that travelers who had not yet received their passport due to the backlog could present a photo ID along with a receipt of their application. It is estimated that implementation of WHTI for land and sea ports would increase passport applications by 8 million in the first year, a sixteen-fold increase over the current backlog. In addition to the backlog of passport applications, the BTA is concerned that the announcement by DHS and DOS will only lead to more confusion among the traveling public and recommends they develop a more aggressive marketing strategy and present a more realistic timeframe for implementation. “Allowing people to travel with proof that you have applied for your passport seems like a Band-Aid approach to a major policy and regulatory change in how we cross the border. These issues are too serious and impact a vast number of business people and tourists. We should not move to implement these or any policies until we are certain that we are prepared to handle them properly. There is just too much at stake,” added Mr. Sepulveda.

While the BTA supports the efforts of DHS and DOS to increase national security, the BTA continues to advocate for a proper implementation of WHTI that will ensure: an accommodation for casual travelers; adequate staffing and training for those enforcing the provisions of WHTI; economic studies to understand the economic impacts upon border communities; and technology for the passport alternatives that proves effective and is seamlessly integrated. The BTA continues to call on both agencies to proceed with implementation after fully developing the lower cost PASS Card, as well as performing additional outreach to the public on new security requirements and preventing additional delays in issuing passports to U.S. citizens.

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