Disclosed Customs policy says you can be searched for no reason

BY STEPHANIE SANCHEZ, SUN STAFF WRITER
August 12, 2008 - 5:30PM

When crossing the border into the United States, things such as your laptop computer, cell phone or iPod can be temporarily impounded and examined by any federal agent seeking information about drug smuggling, terrorism or national security matters.

The policies have actually been in effect for a number of years but were disclosed by the Deparment of Homeland Security on July 16. It could potentially affect anyone who owns a cell phone, students who bring laptops across the border to classes, business people who constantly travel across the border or if you simply own a pager, iPod or CDs.

Customs and Border Protection officers may examine documents, books, pamphlets and other printed material, as well as computers, disks, hard drives and other electronic or digital storage devices which are a crucial tool for detecting information concerning terrorism, narcotics smuggling and other national security matters, according to the policies.

Also, federal agents will look for information concerning alien admissibility, contraband including child pornography, monetary instruments and information in violation of copyright or trademark laws, the policies state.

Officials said such procedures have long been in place but were disclosed last month because of public interest in the matter, according to a news article published in the Washington Post.

Travelers' Laptops May Be Detained At Border

No Suspicion Required Under DHS Policies

By Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 1, 2008; Page A01

Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.

Also, officials may share copies of the laptop's contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"The policies . . . are truly alarming," said Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), who is probing the government's border search practices. He said he intends to introduce legislation soon that would require reasonable suspicion for border searches, as well as prohibit profiling on race, religion or national origin.

DHS officials said that the newly disclosed policies -- which apply to anyone entering the country, including U.S. citizens -- are reasonable and necessary to prevent terrorism. Officials said such procedures have long been in place but were disclosed last month because of public interest in the matter.

At Tijuana checkpoint, border crossers wait . . . and wait . . . and wait

DAN KEANE

Published: 07.23.2008

TIJUANA, Mexico - It looks like any Southern California traffic jam - except you can buy a cappuccino and a 4-foot statue of Jesus from your car while watching dogs sniff vehicles for drugs.

This is the U.S.-Mexico border's most congested crossing, where local residents say already epic lines into San Diego have grown even longer since January, when the U.S. began phasing out a long-standing practice of allowing people they believed to be American citizens to enter by simply stating their citizenship.

Border guards now require most crossers to present a U.S. passport or other proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate — though they are still permitted to exercise their own judgment in order to keep lines moving. As always, Mexican citizens and other foreign nationals must show valid immigration documents to enter.

Still longer waits may be coming for people trying to get to jobs, homes, in-laws and weekend hangouts are scattered across both halves of the border's largest metropolis.

As of next June, all U.S. citizens will have to present a passport or security-enhanced card, much like an electronic toll tag, to cross - or risk being waved out of line for a rigorous security check.

More than half the 21 million cars crossing from Tijuana each year wait 90 minutes or more, with a fourth stuck for more than two hours, according to survey data collected before the January rule change and published this month by Tijuana's College of the Northern Frontier.

Waits may be keeping legal crossers out

BLAKE MORLOCK and FERNANDA ECHÁVARRI

Published: 06.21.2008

Waits will get longer and Mexican visitors will arrive in fewer numbers until the U.S. improves its seven ports of entry along the Arizona-Mexico border.

That's what a University of Arizona study released Friday by the Arizona-Mexico Commission concluded as it showed a drop in the number of people crossing into the U.S. Wait times average 45 minutes and regularly extend to two hours.

The commission tackles cross-border issues and operates out of Gov. Janet Napolitano's office and includes Mexican officials and citizens.

The report attributes the delays primarily to increased security at U.S. entry ports since 9/11 and to old, inadequate port facilities. Fixing the state's seven ports of entry would cost about $500 million and would move people through more quickly, the study said.

Vehicular traffic dropped 20 percent from 2002 to 2007, with 4 million fewer people driving across the border, the commission found.

However, 2 million more people walked across.

Holiday travelers: Feds will ask for citizenship proof at crossings

The Associated Press

Published: 05.19.2008

Travelers heading to Puerto Peñasco, Son., for Memorial Day weekend should be prepared with the documentation they'll need to come back.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials say being prepared before arriving at the Lukeville border crossing will help ease the waits caused by holiday traffic.

The Lukeville crossing is a gateway to Puerto Peñasco, a popular weekend destination for Arizonans that is commonly referred to as Rocky Point.

A law requiring travelers ages 19 or older to show both a government-issued photo ID and proof of citizenship when coming back into the country went into effect Jan. 31.

Those 18 or younger will also need proof of citizenship.

Big expansion ahead at border entry

Plans aim to ease wait and increase security
By Janine Zúñiga
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
February 27, 2008

Federal officials are planning a major expansion of the San Ysidro port of entry to accommodate the growing number of travelers – more than 50,000 vehicles and 25,000 pedestrians daily – heading into the United States.

Construction may begin this summer on the $577 million project that will increase the number of lanes in each direction and realign southbound lanes. The project will include larger, more sophisticated administration buildings, as well as primary and secondary inspection areas.

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, who has lobbied state and federal officials for the project's funding since taking office, said yesterday the expansion is “critically important to our region's future economic health.”

“We need to move this project forward,” said Sanders, speaking at the border.

Proposed Otay Mesa East border entry up for review

By Janine Zúñiga
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
February 20, 2008

OTAY MESA – Caltrans officials will meet this evening to review the potential environmental effects of a fourth port of entry connecting San Diego County and Mexico.

The public can evaluate the preferred plan outlined in an environmental document prepared by the state Department of Transportation for a proposed U.S.-Mexico port of entry and a state route leading to it.

It's too early to say exactly how the border station, Otay Mesa East, might be used, but one possibility would be to process commercial vehicles, federal officials say. The General Services Administration, the federal government's property manager, is working on a study that would explore its use.

New bridges needed, Mexico consul general says

By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times

Article Launched: 02/14/2008 12:00:00 AM MST

The time is ripe for new ports of entry in El Paso, Roberto Rodriguez Hernandez, the Mexican consul general in El Paso, told Downtown business owners Wednesday.

"This community is unique. Right here we have almost 3 million people working together. The last bridge (built) was (the Bridge of the Americas), but it was 45 years ago and it's very sad to hear that," Rodriguez said.

"Since NAFTA, the trade increased four times but the infrastructure is still the same," he said. "It's very sad that we did not have the opportunity to increase infrastructure to increase the trade."

Building new ports of entry was also the theme of a two-day meeting of the U.S.-Mexico Binational Commission Working Group on Ports of Entry at UTEP on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Border officials came from California, Arizona, New Mexico and the Rio Grande Valley to make five-minute presentations about their border-crossing proposals to about 50 officials from the U.S. State Department and the Mexican Foreign Ministry.

Napolitano welcomes expansion of crossing station

Associated Press
Feb. 13, 2008 11:53 AM

Gov. Janet Napolitano is celebrating the expansion of one of Arizona's commercial border crossing points but says another also needs expansion.

Napolitano will visit San Luis near Yuma in southwestern Arizona on Friday for the groundbreaking of an expansion project for the border port of entry there.

But Napolitano says she was disappointed that President Bush's proposed federal budget doesn't request money to expand the Mariposa truck crossing point of entry at Nogales.

Speed up border crossings, binational leaders say

Delays costing region 51,570 jobs, $5.1 billion
By Sandra Dibble
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

February 9, 2008

A second border crossing at Otay Mesa and longer-term improvements at the San Ysdiro and downtown Calexico ports are crucial to the region's economy, business and political leaders from the United States and Mexico said yesterday.

But they said immediate measures must be taken to reduce congestion at California-Mexico crossings.

Seeking input from the private and public sectors, organizers of the United States-Mexico Border Efficiency Conference plan to present proposals for improving the region's crossings to federal officials from both countries.

“We intend to be loud,” said John McNeece, outgoing chairman of the Mexico Business Center of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, which organized the conference at the University of San Diego.

Border delays are costing the region billions of dollars, according to a study released last month by the San Diego Association of Governments that was commissioned by the California Department of Transportation. In 2007, the study calculated losses of $5.1 billion and 51,570 jobs for San Diego and Baja California.

Tougher ID rules to require proof of citizenship at border

ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN

Published: 01.31.2008

New rules for the types of identification U.S. or Canadian citizens must present to cross into the country shouldn't cause significant delays and won't be strictly enforced at first, a senior federal official said.

Under the rules going into effect Thursday, people will no longer be allowed to simply declare to immigration officers at border crossings that they are citizens, said Jayson Ahern, deputy commissioner with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Instead, those 19 and older will have to show proof of citizenship — a passport, trusted traveler card or a birth certificate and government-issued ID such as a driver's license.

"We'll be asking those who cross our borders to present to us secure, more reliable documents to prove citizenship and to confirm their identity," said Ahern, who is heading a national effort to call attention to the changes.

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Passports required to re-enter U.S.

Driver's license with birth certificate also accepted today

By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times

Article Launched: 01/31/2008 12:00:00 AM MST

If you come back from Juárez into El Paso today, it won't be enough to declare "U.S. citizen."

Today is the first day of new, stricter requirements for U.S. citizens at the land ports of entry on the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders. U.S. citizens need to show a passport to Customs and Border Protection officers. If they don't have a passport, they need to show a birth certificate or a certificate of naturalization, together with a picture ID, such as a driver's license. Original documents are preferred, but CBP officers will accept copies, agency officials said.

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Border crossers reminded of new ID requirements

UNION-TRIBUNE
6:42 a.m. January 30, 2008

SAN YSIDRO: U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials reminded travelers yesterday that as of tomorrow, U.S. citizens returning by land or sea must present proof of citizenship.

Oral declarations of citizenship will no longer be accepted. Travelers 19 and older must now present government-issued photo identification, such as a driver's license, and some proof of citizenship, such as a passport, birth certificate or naturalization certificate. Trusted-traveler program cards, such as SENTRI, NEXUS and FAST, military identification cards and tribal identification cards will also be accepted, according to federal officials.

Those 18 and younger need only show proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate.

I keep posting the info about the change in ID requirements at the border because it has been know for over two years and yet people are whining to their congressmen about needing more time to apply for passports, etc. The security of our borders far outweighs the laziness and whining of the few! -mm

New port of entry hoped to ease border lines

BY JUANA M. GYEK, SUN STAFF WRITER

January 30, 2008 - 11:08PM

San Luis, Ariz. - A motorist may wait in line an hour or more to cross the border to this city and while waiting, need to make way for any commercial trucks coming through.

The lines should run more smoothly by September 2009 when a new commercial port of entry is scheduled to be operating, said Mario Jauregui. He is a board member of the Greater Yuma Port Authority, the lead agency in Arizona for building and planning the commercial border crossing.

The commercial port will draw away the tractor-trailers that now pass through the existing port. The move will allow Customs and Border Protection to expand the number of car lanes at the existing port and dedicate them all to private vehicles.

19 senators: Implement new border rules next year

SHERYL KORNMAN

Published: 01.30.2008

A bipartisan group of 19 U.S. senators Monday urged Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to wait to implement new U.S.-Mexico border travel rules until next year. The rules also affect the U.S.-Canadian border.

But Customs and Border Protection Deputy Commissioner Jayson Ahern, in Tucson Tuesday, said federal officers at land and seaports at both borders will require a document proving citizenship and a government picture ID proving identity beginning Thursday.

The changes will take full effect in June 2009, Ahern said. The senators want Homeland Security to wait until then and not implement ID requirements Thursday as planned.

But until 2009, Customs and Border Protection officers can use discretion in determining if a traveler has satisfactorily proved his citizenship and identity.

Proof of citizenship to be required at border

BY JUANA GYEK, STAFF WRITER

January 29, 2008 - 10:54PM

As of Thursday, you'll be asked to prove your claims of being an American citizen when you return for a visit to Mexico.

New, stricter border crossing rules take effect at U.S. ports of entry at San Luis, Ariz., Andrade, Calif., and elsewhere along the nation's borders with Mexico and Canada.

Border crossers 19 and older will be required to produce proof of citizenship - either a U.S. or Canadian passport, or a birth certificate and government-issued identification, such as a driver's license or military ID.

Those 18 and under will be asked to provide a proof of citizenship, such as a passport or a birth certificate.

People who are unable to provide the requested documents will be advised of the requirements and given a written advisory detailing what is required for the next crossing, said Brian Levin, Arizona spokesman for CBP.

"We will not automatically send people in for an inspection if the only issue is lack of documents, unless we suspect an attempt to gain entry by falsely claiming U.S. citizenship, which is what we already do," Levin said.

Getting harder to come home from Mexico

Proof of citizenship requests starts Thursday

SHERYL KORNMAN

Published: 01.28.2008

NOGALES - Earlier this month, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff put his foot down and said new border-crossing ID requirements will take effect Thursday despite criticism that they would be inconvenient for returning Americans.

"It's time to grow up and recognize that if we're serious about this threat, we've got to take reasonable, measured but nevertheless determined steps to getting better security," he said Jan. 17.

It's true that beginning Thursday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers along the U.S.-Mexico border will start asking Americans returning from Mexico for proof of U.S. citizenship.

But the actual deadline for showing a passport, or a driver's license and birth certificate, or other citizenship documents is June 1, 2009.

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Re-entry rule could cause more delays

By Leslie Berestein
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
January 27, 2008

Above the seemingly endless lines of cars waiting to cross from Mexico at the San Ysidro port of entry, an electronic billboard flashes the announcement: As of Thursday, you'll have to prove you are a U.S. citizen if you want to re-enter the United States.

The new rule, intended to ease the way toward a requirement that everyone must show a passport, is causing headaches among cross-border commuters, border business leaders, Tijuana merchants, and American shoppers and tourists who say the new rule is not only confusing but threatens to disrupt cross-border commerce and make border waits even longer.