Both the US and Canada have significant changes along their border. It’s mainly over security and stemming the flow of illegal weapons and illegal immigrants.
It comes as travel to the U.S. by Canadians continues to plummet, and there’s also a dip in the number of Americans heading north. And now, Canadians heading into the U.S. will find themselves subjected to a new security measure, one that isn't sitting well with some who have already experienced it.
On the U.S. side of the border, moves are being made to identify travelers. Canadian snowbirds heading south to spend their winters in Florida and other warm states are being told they need to be fingerprinted and photographed as part of a new registration process.
Brenda Paige and her husband were among them. She says they were given no choice at the border.
“It wasn’t like ‘would you like to have your photograph, would you like to have...’ There was nothing, just ‘this is the way it’s done,’ and you just do it. You fall in line,” Paige said. “We want to keep coming back every year so, we just did it right.”
Now another change that went into effect a week ago, and is mandatory for Canadians, has even more people upset. U.S. officials are now photographing all travelers entering or leaving the country, as they ramp up their facial biometrics program.
“Doing this at the land points of entry, the logistics are going to be very difficult,” said Len Saunders, a U.S. immigration lawyer. “What they’re trying to do is more control who’s entering this country, national security reasons. I do think it’s going to be the wave of the future.”
On the Canadian side, the federal government recently announced more than $600 million to beef up border security. It includes recruiting and training one thousand new border guards. About 80 percent of them will be frontline officers.
“These people will do critical work at our borders, ensuring the smooth movement of people and goods, all the while making sure that illegal goods, guns, and drugs are stopped,” said Gary Anandasangeree, Canada’s public safety minister.
Prime minister Mark Carney recently toured border agency facilities at Niagara Falls, Ontario, where seized guns and drugs were on display.
In a statement, his office said the new officers will also help enforce import measures and investigate unfair trade practices.
Canada Border services agency officers will get better benefits and have the option of retiring after 25 years of service, without any reduction to their pensions. Some of the new officers will be special analysts who will focus on suspects connected to organized crime, human smuggling and terrorism.
The union for the guards says the move is promising but more is needed.
We don’t really examine rail. Marine, we examine less than one percent,” said Mark Weber, with the customs and immigration officers’ union. “We have land borders, airports which really overuse students so we need to get officers in those positions.”
According to Weber, the union estimates 2,000 new officers are needed, as well as training facilities and equipment.
The $600 million is on top of the $1.3 billion Ottawa has already pledged to appease President Donald Trump.
US officials say it’s about ensuring accurate records, enhancing security and enforcing immigration. That may be so, but for many Canadian travelers, it’s another reason to avoid heading south.
Statistics Canada’s recent numbers show that year over year, return trips to the U.S. by Canadians were down nearly 30 percent in August. And trips by Americans to Canada were also down, but only by 1.4 percent.
