The following is an excerpt from the Siera Vista Herald, which quotes Border Trade Alliance (BTA) Chairman, Pete Sepulveda, regarding Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). Providing southern Arizona locals with a perspective on how the initiative may impact their plans for cross-border travel and trade, the following article also summarizes the BTA’s recent advocacy efforts on WHTI:
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, Sepulveda said.
“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,” Sepulveda said.
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. Read the full article…
Leave a Reply
The BTA reserves the right to post comments it feels are appropriate to creating a dialog around border issues. We are interested in hearing from all points of view and encourage those with unique, constructive perspectives to contribute their view points to help shape the future of our borders. BTA is a tri-national organization and will not accept posts that contain derogatory comments made towards citizens, groups, or organizations of any kind.