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Residents to get a chance to question border officials

By Meg Olson

U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service bosses from Seattle are coming to Point Roberts this month to talk with local business owners about steps the agency can take to make keep traffic moving across the border and make it easier for Point Roberts residents to get to the rest of the United States.

Hot topics on the agenda for the February 21 chamber of commerce luncheon at Brewsters are likely to include progress on re-establishing a commuter lane program and efforts to get more staffing at the border to insure minimal waits. INS district director Bob Coleman and district head of inspections Ron Hays have been invited to the meeting to answer community questions.

Many of the details about the new NEXUS commuter lane proposed for western Washington ports of entry are still up in the air, said deputy district director for the Seattle district Bob Okin. Evaluation of the project pilot at Port Huron, Michigan is expected to be complete in March and “We would hope what happens is they would approve us to implement it in Blaine,” he said. “I would hope within about three months.”

The INS is still working on where and how the program would be implemented. NEXUS was developed and put in place at Port Huron in 1999 using $1.2 million of the $1.6 million allocated by Congress the year before to expand PACE. Some of those funds were also used to purchase the equipment necessary for NEXUS lanes at Pacific Highway and Peace Arch crossings in Blaine. The estimated cost for an additional NEXUS lane to open and run for the first month is $173,503.

Original plans for Whatcom County, when the PACE program at the Peace Arch was still up and running, were to put the then experimental NEXUS at Pacific Highway for a slow start-up. A portion of the equipment has already been installed at that location but, with access limited at that port, Okin said there was some consideration of putting NEXUS in at Peace Arch first, where enough lanes exist to get commuters around regular border crossers.
The enrollment process for NEXUS could put a significant drag on program start-up. Enrollment requirements are still being discussed, said Okin, but they are likely to include fingerprinting and FBI background checks.

Each enrollee would also need to be photographed and their information entered into a database. The program uses radio-tagged identification cards to trigger a photo of and information on the enrollee as they approach the booth, allowing the inspector to match who’s in the car with who’s in the program.

Okin said recent technological improvements have shortened wait-times for FBI background checks. “Right now they’re running at about 48 hours,” he said. Starting enrollment early, so that the lane opens to ready and waiting members, is also an option. “It has occurred to us,” Okin said. “We’re discussing that now.”

Costs for NEXUS participation are also up in the air, with estimates ranging from $25 per participant, the cost per vehicle for PACE, to over $100.
The INS recognizes how critical crossing the border is for Point Roberts residents, Okin said, and they may be first in line for the new program.

“We’re talking about some expedited process for Point Roberts,” he said. “We hope they can get preference in terms of registration.” However, it is unlikely Point Roberts will get a NEXUS lane until busier ports with longer wait times are taken care of.

Wait times in Point Roberts in December and January have rarely exceeded 15 minutes, Okin said, despite the December 21 departure of two border patrol agents who were supplementing local INS staff. Point Roberts port director Jim Hutchins said the practice of keeping two lanes open during the day, which began with the arrival of border patrol agents, would continue with existing staff when possible. “We do the best we can,” Hutchins said. “We try and do it from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. but if it’s not warranted, we don’t.” Inspectors at the Point Roberts border have been working one to two double shifts per week to keep the extra lane open, Hutchins said.
While Congress has allocated funds for a tripling of inspectors on the northern border, it is not known when and if additional staff will be available for the Point Roberts port.

At INS regional headquarters, Virginia Kice said the agency’s 2002 budget provided for over 600 new inspectors to be hired but recruiting and training would take from six to nine months. “Agents are made, not born,” she said. “All of this is in the pipeline and it’s moving forward.”

In the meantime, Kice said, they would continue to monitor wait times. “If we see any kind of sustained or significant delays we’ll send up additional inspectors.”.

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