U.S.News & Word Report, December 20, 2004

KEEPING THE FRONT LINES SECURE

A new high-tech program to let shoppers in and keep terrorists out

by samantha levine

Laredo, TEXAS – Things seemed to be going pretty smoothly for Marcela Castillo and her family. She had her pink plastic folder holding visas and passports for herself, her three kids, a cousin, and her husband. The group had endured the eight-hour ride from their home in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. And by 1 p.m. on this December day, they were at the front of the line at the processing center here where the U.S. government has begun scanning fingerprints and taking photos of many foreign visitors in an effort to beef up security at the border. But just as they were about to enter, the computer system crashed. "It's annoying," said Castillo, as she scrambled to fill out visa forms by hand, a chore the high-tech system is supposed to eliminate. "I thought these things only happen in Mexico."

The snag wasn't too shocking. After all, it had been only two weeks since the Department of Homeland Security began testing the new U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology system, or US-VISIT, in Laredo and at two other major U.S. land crossings. But it was disconcerting. In mis fast-growing border city of more than 200,000 – and in Nuevo Laredo, its larger sister city across a narrow thread of the Rio Grande – any slowdown in the easy cross-border traffic is cause for concern. Though Иге system has yet to cause major delays, the fear is that tougher security may mean longer lines, more congestion, and just plain hassle at the four short bridges connecting Laredo with Mexico. And that may turn people off from coming to the United States to do business. "Homeland Security can claim a terrorist can slip by," says Miguel Conchas, president of the Laredo Chamber of Commerce. "But here, this is our commerce, trade, and livelihood."

Worries like his could spread. The US-VISIT program is due to be implemented at the nation's 50 busiest northern and southern land borders by the end of the month and at all 165 land crossings by next December. The problem is, US-VISIT is still a work in progress, says Rep. Jim Turner of Texas, ranking Democrat on the House Select Committee on Homeland Security. And how much more security it can deliver is the source of some debate. The price tag for US-VISIT is already $1 billion, and it could ultimately reach $10 billion. So from Laredo to Port Huron, Mich., from San Ysidro, Calif., to Niagara Falls, N.Y., the questions are the same: Are the presumed benefits worth the cost?

Conflicts. The roots of the US-VISIT program go back to 1996, when lawmakers called for a system to collect data on every person entering and leaving the United States but were faced with protests from business groups that feared the effects on commerce. The 9/11 attacks reframed the debate. When it was revealed that al Qaeda hijackers had beaten the visa system and used altered passports, the plan was resurrected. Indeed, the sweeping U.S.A. Patriot Act declared that an entry-exit control system should begin "as expeditiously as practicable."

In January, US-VISIT was put into place at 115 U.S. airports and 14 seaports. Initially, the program applied only to travelers who require a visa to come to the United States. When they obtain their visas from the U.S. embassies or consulates in their home countries-using various kinds of official identification – officers take finger scans and digital photos. When they arrive at the U.S. border, agents again take scans and photos. These biometric indicators must match to confirm the travelers' identities. The information then is checked against terrorist and criminal watch lists. Since September 30, US-VISIT has also applied to those journeying here from countries that have visa-free travel relationships with the United States, including much of Europe. So far, more than 12 million visitors have been checked through US-VISIT – and more than 350 with criminal records have been arrested or sent back to their country of origin.

But border cities have different needs, and so US-VISIT is struggling to walk a tightrope that accommodates both commerce and security. The program won't affect the millions of Mexican citizens who hold special frequent-crossing visas. They would only have to enroll if they stay in the United States pr more than 30 days or travel more than 25 miles (or 75 miles in Arizona) from the border. On the northern border, most Canadians can skirt US-VISIT just by showing a driver's license. These waivers sweep in 97 percent of the people who cross the borders, says Ramon Juarez, assistant port director for passenger operations at the Laredo port. And that's the problem, asserts Jessica Vaughan, a senior policy analyst for the Center for Immigration Studies. "[The exemptions] can leave a ludicrously large hole" when it comes to stopping terrorists and illegal immigrants, she says. DHS spokeswoman Kimberly Weissman says the number of waivers may be reduced in future years, as US-VISIT improves its ability to process larger numbers of people.

Border buzz. Even the modest numbers subject to US-VISIT today rattle the locals in Laredo. A closer look at the city's economy shows why. Around $80 billion in goods, 1.6 million loaded trucks, and nearly 7 million other vehicles carrying millions of people flowed across the border here in 2003. At International Bridge 2, the air is thick with exhaust as an endless stream of vehicles, from ancient Chevy pickups to lumbering tour buses, crawls through the sprawling checkpoint. In the tight byways of downtown Laredo, along store-lined Mata-moros and San Agustin streets, up to 80 percent of the sales are to Mexican shoppers. Clothing store proprietor Les Norton, who owns La Kama on Convent Avenue and whose family has run shops in the city for two generations, says "the success of Laredo has always been day shoppers" from Mexico. A recent study by J. Michael Patrick, director of the Texas Center for Border Economic and Enterprise Development at Texas A&M International University, found that a l percent decrease in border crossings would cost Laredo $19 million in annual sales and increase unemployment by 7-2 percent.

Backers of US-VISIT say the processing takes just a few moments, so it shouldn't discourage visitors. But critics of the program also wonder about its security benefits. "How many terrorists are dumb enough to actually go through the checkpoints?" asks Carlos Espinosa, who works for conservative Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo, head of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus. Indeed, between October 2003 and July 2004, U.S. border agents caught more than 150 people from countries like Iran and Pakistan sneaking across the Mexican and Canadian borders in between the checkpoints. Michael Greenberger, who runs the Center for Health and Homeland Security at the University of Maryland, says "there is a lot of concern about al Qaeda using the Southwest border as a point of entry." US-VISIT's other goal-to track visitors who overstay their visas, like two of the al Qaeda hijackers did – is still incomplete.

Physical infrastructure is another issue, with land ports trying to find room to squeeze in US-VISIT processing. In Laredo, booths are tucked inside a small room with peach-colored walls and floor-to-ceiling glass windows. But consider Los Ebanos, a tiny Texas border crossing a few hours to the southeast. There, the last federally supported hand-pulled ferry totes travelers across the Rio Grande. The Customs and Border Protection office at Los Ebanos is a converted double-wide trailer. Yet US-VISIT will be operating there within a year. Somehow.

"This is our commerce, trade, and livelihood."

MIGUEL CONCHAS, president, Laredo Chamber of Commerce