Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer applauded the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s decision to finally agree to abide by a congressional mandate that postpones the implementation of passports at the northern border until June 1, 2009. In issuing its final rule on the implementation of new passport and documentation rules for land and sea crossings at U.S. borders, under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), DHS has agreed to postpone the passport requirements. Schumer has warned that forcing Western New Yorkers to carry passports would result in an economic burden on families across the region while hampering cross-border commerce and creating longer lines at the border.

While Senator Schumer today noted that he is pleased that DHS will follow Congress’s intent, he pledged to continue fighting DHS’s lackluster plan to demand passports at the northern border without having the technology to implement such a policy efficiently enough to avoid staggering lines at the border and an economic blow to the region. Schumer also restated his concerns about DHS’s ongoing policy, instituted on January 31, 2008, of requiring American travelers to present birth certificates in order to reenter the United States.

“It is a shame that Congress had to step in before DHS finally agreed to put on the brakes rather than rushing headfirst into implementing WHTI rules, when there is neither the technology nor the system in place to make sure the border is kept secure and efficient,” said Senator Schumer. “This is a step in the right direction, but I will continue fighting this hare-brained plan and working with DHS to find a smart manner to both beef up security at our borders and protect commerce.”

In January of this year Schumer issued a report titled “The Worst of Both Worlds” detailing how DHS’s decision to require birth certificates to cross the border will both jeopardize security and cross-border commerce. Despite repeated warnings from Schumer and fellow congress members, DHS has insisted on forcing New Yorkers traveling between Canada and the United States to show a birth certificate, a plan that is plagued by security problems and can create long waits at the border, especially when the summer travel season begins.

Making matters worse, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff has personally stressed security concerns surrounding the easy-to-forge birth certificates and has also recently admitted that border waits will grow worse under the new rule, a side effect that will seriously threaten cross-border commerce. The United States and Canada have the largest bi-national trade relationship in the world. Trade with Canada supports an estimated 350,000 jobs in New York alone. Fully 25% of all New York State exports, accounting for $10.5 billion, go to Canada every year. The impact of tourism and spur-of-the-moment trips is also staggering with Canadians accounting for 2.2 million visits to New York in 2002 injecting $389 million into the local economies.

Schumer has relentlessly pressured DHS to hold off on new documentary requirements until specially-enhanced state driver’s licenses and cheaper federal People Access Security Service (PASS) Cards are available for all New Yorkers.

“The Department of Homeland Security has decided to toss logic to the wind and ram this ill-advised restriction down the throats of all New Yorkers,” said Senator Schumer in his January report. “Plain and simple, this plan is the worst of both worlds: it promotes the use of easy-to-forge documents to travel into our country, and it threatens to create huge backlogs at our border communities that stifle cross-border commerce.”