Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative
There is a sense of urgency given that as of January 8, 2007 the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) will be implemented for all air and sea—the one for land travel is imminent for 2008—for entrance into the US and Canada. The legislation requires travelers to present approved secure documentation in order to cross the border. The Canadian Border Services Agency provides the following explanation for acceptable identification conforming to WHTI:
“Secure documents contain special security features and follow specific manufacturing and issuing processes. To safeguard against counterfeiting, these documents meet certain standards to help ensure they are not improperly acquired, issued, altered or used by impostors”.
According to rules that the United States released in August 2006, the following documents are considered secure for entry into the United States from within the western hemisphere by air or sea: a valid passport; a valid U.S. Merchant Mariner Document; a NEXUS Air card when used at a NEXUS Air kiosk; or a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) identification card, when accompanied by current NATO orders. As of January 8, 2007, Canadian and U.S. citizens will require one of these documents to enter the United States by air or sea. The rules for crossing the U.S. border by land are yet to be released.
However, there is some opposition in the US senate to the enforcement of this legislation, particularly by Senator Hillary Rodham- Clinton of New York, who writes:
The WHTI requirements could also have a profoundly negative impact on the people of the Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne… the Initiative also poses a threat to the daily lives of the Mohawk community. For example, the Mohawk people often take several trips across the border each day and account for approximately 70 percent of border traffic in the area. Imposing upon them the type of travel restrictions contemplated by the Initiative would have a detrimental effect on many aspects of their daily lives. Perhaps most disturbing, the Initiative could interrupt the cross-border travel of 1,300 Mohawk students living on the Canadian side of the border who attend the Salmon River and Massena school districts located on the U.S. Side.
This last example underscores an important point. The WHTI could disrupt not only the businesses and economies of border communities, but their very way of life. The people who live in these shared border areas do not regard themselves as Americans or Canadians, but rather as one community of neighbors… Under the Initiative, it could potentially cost hundreds of dollars for a New York (Akwesasne ed.) family to make the short trip across the border to visit a family member or a friend. Limiting their ability to interact by forcing upon them the restrictions outlined in the Initiative would create a wall splitting one community into two.
