Border-state lawmakers decry new ID rules for travelers

The Homeland Security Department's plan to implement new border crossing rules at the end of January has been met with widespread criticism on Capitol Hill, with lawmakers fearing the move will create unacceptable delays and problems for trade and tourism. Beginning Jan. 31, travelers will be required to produce documents, such as a birth certificate, passport and driver's license, proving their citizenship when coming into the country from Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean.

The change, which is part of the so-called Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, primarily affects U.S. and Canadian citizens, who had been permitted entry by making an oral declaration of citizenship. But northern border lawmakers immediately slammed the plan.

"The looming requirement for birth certificates at the northern border is poorly planned, and with concerns about a recession on the way, the timing for clamping down on billions of dollars in trade and travel could not be worse," said Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. "I can think of nothing that would push the northern border states over the edge more surely than this heavy-handed, ill-timed and misguided government mandate."

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs ranking member Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she has urged Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff to reconsider the move. She noted that Congress recently enacted legislation prohibiting the department from fully implementing the travel initiative until June 2009. Chertoff argued in a letter Thursday to senators that he has the authority to end the practice of accepting oral declarations at the border, regardless of the congressional restrictions.

"While I understand that the secretary views this initiative as separate from the requirement for a passport that the Congress has prohibited him from implementing until June 2009, the clear message we were sending to the department was to be more attuned to the legitimate travel and commerce of border community residents," Collins said in a statement. "I reminded Secretary Chertoff that DHS caused unacceptable delays at the border crossings last year when it implemented license checks without having the necessary staff in place. For the department to impose an additional requirement of a birth certificate, which many residents do not have at hand, and to no longer accept common documents such as baptismal certificates and student ID cards as a supplement to license checks could well cause considerable difficulties and back-ups at the border."

Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, said Chertoff's decision to implement new documentation requirements "clearly violates explicit direction from Congress." Allen, who is running to unseat Collins in this year's election, added: "I will join effort with others in Congress to ensure that DHS's actions do not harm our border economy or excessively burden Maine citizens."

But it was not clear what, if anything, lawmakers could do to prevent the new rules from going into effect. An aide to Leahy noted that little time exists between when the Senate comes back into session next week and the end of the month.

"We are looking at all possible avenues to address this issue," the aide said.