First Day of Border Rules

(June 1, 2009 - DTN) - USA TODAY - New federal rules took effect Monday requiring anyone entering the country by land or sea — including U.S. citizens — to show a passport or other approved document.

Border officials reported no major delays, with agents using Day One as more of an exercise in education.

U.S. citizens returning home at the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry in Nogales, Ariz., were waved through even if they didn't have the proper ID and handed a flyer explaining the new requirements.

Edith Serrano, a public affairs supervisor for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said agents will try to help people through as long as they have some form of legitimate identification.

"It might delay them a little, but we are not going to deny a U.S. citizen from coming back from Mexico," Serrano said.

Kevin Corsaro, spokesman for the customs field office in Buffalo, N.Y., said about 90% of travelers entering the U.S. were showing one of the IDs now required: a passport, passport card, enhanced driver's license or "trusted traveler" card.

"We really believe we've done our part to get the word out that the law was changing," Corsaro said.

No delays were reported at Detroit's two crossings with Ontario, Canada— theAmbassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel — or at the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, Mich.

The stepped-up ID requirements are the final phase of an anti-terrorism policy called the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. The law has been enacted in stages, with numerous delays because of concerns the rules might interfere with tourism and commerce.

Even before the new requirements took effect, air travelers needed a passport to enter the U.S.

Rosemary Law, 70, of Amherst, N.Y., was pleased with the new security measures.

"It's the only way to go," said Law, who was crossing the border into Canada at the Peace Bridge in Buffalo. "You feel safer."

Karla Astorga, 22, of Nogales, Ariz., thinks the new regulations will make it easier for her to cross the border, which she does nearly every work day to take her child to a nanny in Mexico.

She did not have the newly necessary identification Monday, although she did have a receipt proving she had applied for a passport card.

"I think it is going to be better, because you'll just be able to show the card and go through," Astorga said. "Before, they asked you a lot of questions."

Another reason the lines may get shorter: The nation's busiest border crossings have received new equipment that reads small chips embedded in passport cards, enhanced driver's licenses and trusted traveler cards as people pull into an inspection booth.

The chips, which also are in passports issued since August 2007, contain a unique identification number that links with a database. Once a chip is read, customs officers have on their computer screen everything they need to know about a traveler.

Customs officials said the new requirements won't be strictly enforced until later this year, granting more time for people unaware of the changes. Those attempting to come back into the country without a passport or approved paperwork were subject to short waits for citizenship verification and given handouts on how to comply.

Other link: www.getyouhome.gov.