Border Trade Alliance

Our Borders, Our Futures:  BTA Community Event -Yuma, AZ, 9/19/2008

E-Verify, Guest-Workers, & Secure Travel; Climate Change & Green Trade;  Border Infrastructure, Security, Resources, & Trade Corridors - Covered in BTA & GYEDC Partnership Community Event

September 19th, 2008 in Yuma, AZ marked the inaguration of the Border Trade Alliance (BTA) “Our Borders, Our Futures: Community Event Series” and proved that the will of the border region, combined with a sound platform for local stakeholders and federal government agencies to build relationships through education, collaboration, and facilitation is central to finding workable solutions to the complex issues affecting our borders, and thus our nations at large.  This highly successful regional event, presented in partnership with outstanding contributions from the Greater Yuma Economic Development Council (GYEDC), brought large numbers of business, government, community leaders, and state legislators to the table with top Federal Agency Program Officials from Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Program Offices for US-VISIT & E-Verify, the U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP), the General Services Administration (GSA), the U.S. Geological Survey, and the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI).

“It’s always a pleasure to come to BTA events,” stated Shonnie Lyon, Acting Deputy Director, US-VISIT, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  “And when people ask me why - I say because you get honest feedback, it’s very candid, and nobody pulls any punches so you really know where you stand.”

In this post you will find a brief overview of the event panel speaker presentations, which  include new BTA TV (beta) video, of federal officials presentations in full from the event. This post is the first in a three part series on the conference that will be posted incrementally throughout next week.

Once again, BTA would like to express our sincere gratitude to the sponsors of this landmark event and thank them for their continued commitment to improving our border communities:

• Greater Yuma Economic Development Corporation
• R.L. Jones Management Group
• City of San Luis
• Southwest Gas Corporation
• Wells Fargo Bank
• Yuma Private Industry Council

Event Summary (including photos and presentations):

Developing an agenda from the ground up, BTA worked dillegently with local organzations, international trade leaders, and federal agencies to develop an agenda that reflected the most presient issues facing the Arizona Border Region to ensure the meeting worked towards grass-roots solutions that helped border region citizens better understand, and affect Federal policies to meet the local border issues with national implications. BTA worked with federal officials ensure that attendees felt comfortable in asking direct questions, and conveyed the fact that local involvement and communication from communities at the federal level is both urgent and imperative to the successful implementation of policies and programs impacting the economic, social, and environmental welfare of the region, as well as the Nation.

Download the final conference agenda…

Guest Worker, E-Verify and US-VISIT Panel

Speakers discussed the hardships employers are facing when trying to recruit more workers in the agricultural industry because of border delays and inadequacy of federal policies to address the need for guest workers.  An update was given by DHS on the status of US-VISIT and the difficulty of implementing a successful EXIT phase of the program.  DHS also gave an overview of the E-verify program and addressed concerns from the audience about compliance with the program and identity theft.

US-VISIT PRESENTATION:  Presented by Mr. Shonnie Lyon, Acting Deputy Director, US-VISIT, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Mr. Shonnie Lyon

Mr. Shonnie Lyon presented an excellent snapshot of the various initiatives the US-VISIT secure traveler program is working on, demonstrating a strong willingness to communicate the impacts of these initiatives on the border region and the urgency of community involvement in shaping developing pilot programs at the planning stages, as a recipe for long term success.  Mr. Lyon stated that the US-VISIT mandate is to secure the nation, while effective and efficient - in a way that doesn’t discourage law abiding citizens from crossing the border, as $17b generated in the movement of people across our borders.  US-Visit supports the opperations of several departments like DHS, CBP, Dept of State, ICE, CIS, FBI, etc… in providing identity verification, in order to find people who may pose a risk to the U.S.  US-VISIT has over 93 million identities, running nearly 30,000 prints for the Dept of State visa inquiries alone. Mr. Lyon did not use a Powerpoint to accompany his presentation, but you can watch the video of Mr. Lyon’s US-VISIT presentation in full below on our newly implemented BTA TV:

 Technology Pilots and Biometric Implemenation

Mr Lyon discussed the change from a 10 finger print upgrade from just recording 2 print system, and through a pilot program realized that 10 prints could actually speed up biometrics processing and capture - improving from about 15.5 seconds to 10 seconds using 10 print identification. These very important proof of concepts for the technology behind entry and exit controls, illustrate that positive results are sometimes counter-intuitive and planning in technological implementation is critical in creating efficient and effective systems.

This technology has already been implemented at some ports, with approximately 1 second verification with single hand scanning for repeat travelers.  They are actually in the deployment phase in alexander NY, and many airports. It will be implemented in an additional 700 scanners at additional locations after Dec 31.

Exit Controls at Land Ports:

Regarding the hot-topic of Exit Controls, US-VISIT issued a request for comment from industry for land port exits - all the feedback received is being used to shape the strategy. With a report due in Dec., US-VISIT Exit programs are in the very early planning/exploration phase, examining what could work now, and several years down the road.  “There is no silver bullet,” said Deputy Director Lyon.  Dealing with multiple modes of transports - both commercial and pedestrian -  in addition to the unique challenges at each port in dealing with the varying levels of traffic, scale, and security may dictate that a number of tailored technological solutions are necessary.

Monitoring H2-a visa holders - model for Guest Workers?

Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) recently developed a proposed rule for a pilot test on monitoring H2-a visa holders, a key component to guest-worker and the agricultural workforce, and are looking aggressively at what would be the best way to do this pilot.

Communication is Key to Success

US-VISIT is committed to making the U.S. as secure as possible, but we cannot do it in a vacuum.  Stressing that facilitation is key in looking at biometric implementation, he stated “Communication is integral in the success of any plan and that’s why we come to these events.” He went on to re-itterate that proof of concepts and pilots are essential to arriving at a viable solution.  “We are very much in a listening mode about how to best to accommodate our customers. ” said Mr. Lyon.

E-VERIFY PRESENTATION:  Presented by Ms. Francine Hill,  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, DHS

Ms. Francine Hill

Ms. Francine Hill delivered an informational presentation on the E-verify system, a very important regional issue, as Arizona recently was one of the first to mandate the use of E-Verify by all employers through out the state.  In a recent blog post on E-Verify, BTA outlined some of the background and concerns over  how the program’s implementation could affect businesses in the region - you can read the post here. You can download the PDF Powerpoint presentation or watch the video of Ms. Hill’s E-Verify presentation in full below on our newly implemented BTA TV:

About E-Verify

As mandated by the Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, the system seeks to provide a way to verify the eligibility status of newly hired employees and has four main goals:

1. Reduce unauthorized employment
2. Minimize verification-related discrimination
3. Be quick and non-burdensome to employers
4. Protect civil liberties and employee privacy

How it Works

Using an online system an employer must log-on, using an internet connection to verify the elegibility status of the hire. Initial verification will return one of three results
within seconds:  employee is authorized to work; there is an information mismatch with SSA; or DHS Verification in Process, in which DHS will usually respond within 24 hours with either an Employment Authorized or DHS Tentative Nonconfirmation.  The following is what happens under each scenario:

1. If Employment Authorized, the employer records the system-generated verification number on the Form I-9.
2. If Tentative Nonconfirmation, the employee can contest the finding and then, the employee can choose to contest and if contested employee has 8 Federal Government workdays from the date of referral to visit or call the appropriate agency to resolve the discrepancy. Notice of resolution will be sent to employer through the system.
3. Social Security Number mismatches are resolved with SSA
4. Non-citizen status mismatches are resolved with DHS
5. If the employee chooses not to contest, it is considered a Final Nonconfirmation and the employer may terminate the employee and resolve the case.

Employer Responsibilities:

E-Verify must ONLY be used to verify NEW hires, and must be initiated after the employee accepts the position (hire date) and within 3 days of the employee’s actual start date. E-Verify procedures must be applied to ALL new hires, regardless of citizenship status.  Employers must also post official posters for E-Verify programs and Anti-discrimination.

A Photo tool was incorporated into the E-Verify system for all employers
in September 2007 to better assist employers to detect instances of document fraud by matching the system photo to the document.

Over 84,000 participating employers are using E-Verify currently, with nearly 6 million queries run in FY 2008 alone of which 92% are instantly verified or within 24 hours as “Employment Authorized”

AGRI-BUSINESS IMPACTS PRESENTATION: Mr. Rick Rademacher, President, Yuma Fresh Vegetable Association

Mr. Rick Rademacher

Mr. Rick Rademacher of the Yuma Fresh Vegetable Association, added great insight, as he informed attendees about on of the biggest challenges facing on of the largest seasonal agriculture producing regions in the U.S.:  worker shortage.  Yuma Sun published an excellent article summarizing the issues facing agriculture in the region and worker shortage, as presented at the event - which we encourage you to read here.

Despite paying competitive wages and benefits, a majority of U.S. based workers seem un-willing to do lower level farming or agricultural work.  Underlining the need for more foreign workers from Mexico, whom are willing to do the work, while successfully illustrating the correlation between decreased pedestrian traffic resulting from border congestion and increases in worker shortages, Mr. Rademacher called for solutions to address an issue detremental to the region and nation at large.  Many crops are not fully harvested, if at all, due to worker shortages caused by the difficulty of legitimate legal workers face in crossing the borders for work.  Restrictions in immigration policy and inefficiencies at the border force workers who live just 20 miles away from there jobs, to stay in accomodations away from their families for weeks on end.

Mr. Rademacher called for legislators and officials to investigate potential rules within the H2-a visa program that might allow for more flexible cross-border travel, eliminating the need to re-establish poor and inefficient solutions like labor-camps to meet the needs of the industry and worker demands.

While the industry is trying to mechanize, the human laborer still presents the highest form of productivity for harvesting quality produce of value for the nation.  Mr. Rademacher also called for better collaboration and cooperation between local level officials in U.S. and Mexico to improve the efficient flow of goods across the border.

REGIONAL GUEST-WORKER LEGISLATIVE  PRESENTATION: Mr. Russ Jones, President, R.L. Jones Management Group

Mr. Russ Jones

Covering a excellent perspective on guest worker/laborer/immigration reform and related border security legistlation affecting local level policies, Mr. Russ Jones, President of R.L. Jones Management Group, Board Member of the BTA, and State Legislator coveyed the need to continue moving forward with commuter/guest workers so that the agriculture communities have the appropriate workforce levels.  While many of the federal and local initiatives have succeeded in more security at the border, unfortunately, according to Mr. Jones, many of the good pieces of legislation have died on the vine, while marginal bills that don’t keep in mind business liability safe havens have passed.

“There is a initiative… that provides a safe haven to businesses, and cleans up some of the onerous components of the Employer Sactions Bill, and I would encourage everyone to vote for it.” Mr Jones stated, and Mr. Rademacher agreed that, “It would be in our best interests in Arizona to do that.”

Many of the recommendations from the resulting commission, many have or are still be putting in place.  Numbers of folks coming through legally has dramatically declined and is currently at a 10 year low for the San Luis Port of Entry, while commercial traffic is at a high.  Mr. Jones communicated that we need a more comprehensive look at solving the problems with massive declines in legitimate cross-border pedestrian travel.

Additionally, now that we have fucused and made great progress at securing the border, Mr. Jones Called on efforts to relieve the labor pressure, through guest and commuter worker solutions.

“We must have a work force available to our number one economic driver in this county, which is Agriculture,”  Mr. Jones stated. “We need to unite and work together to do something about it.”

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