Border securityBorder entry fee opposed by border-state lawmakers, businesses

DHS, in its 2014 budget proposal, asked for permission to conduct a study about imposing fees at U.S. land border crossings. The proposal is bitterly opposed by both businesses on the northern border, which make most of their money from Canadians who cross into the United States just to shop, and lawmakers from states along the U.S.-Canada border, who say such fees will hurt both commerce and relations between the United States and Canada.

The Houston Chronicle reportsthat the DHS study calls for launching a pilot program to determine fee collection methods — short of actually collecting money at the border. The fee would offset the costs of border screenings and border security infrastructure. The Customs and Border Protection(CBP) agency has not said how much the study will cost.

“It’s a deterrent,” Michael Hill, who owns a gas station is fully stocked with wine, beer and milk, all of which are cheaper in the U.S. told the  Chronicle. “They should be doing anything they can to get them down here to buy more.”

 “The imposition of such a toll would act as a barrier to the greater economic integration that we seek, and is the absolute last thing we should be doing to grow our economy,” eighteen Republican and Democratic House members said in  a letter t to DHSsecretary Janet Napolitano earlier this month.

Currently, those who enter the United States by air or sea travel pay $2.00 – the fee is included in the price of the ticket — , but those who  enter the country by land do so for free.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) is sponsoring an amendment to the Senate immigration legislation which will prohibit DHS from conducting the study. The senator also said he will stop any funding for the study.

Not all lawmakers are against the fee, however. Congressman Ruben Hinojosa (D-Texas) said the fee could raise revenues to be used to improve border infrastructure.

“I would support crossing fees only if the funds garnered would be used to upgrade our facilities, provide better equipment for our agents, or used for the hiring of more agents at our border crossings,” he told the Chronicle.

Ken Oplinger, president of the Bellingham/Whatcom County Chamber of Commercein Washington State, says the fee could either increase wait times at land borders or force Canadians to just stop crossing the border.

Kenn Morris, president of marketing research firm Crossborder Group Inc, cited a 2009 University of Texasstudy, which said tolls at the border will not affect traffic in a negative way, but instead will provide a source of revenue to improve infrastructure along the border.

“I think that it’s inevitable that more border regions use those tools and those who don’t want to use it that’s their choice, but they shouldn’t take the ability for other regions to at least look at that option,” Morris told the Chronicle. “For those regions that want the ability to charge a fee, we need good analyses to create good policy.”