New rules for border traffic begin this week

Simply giving a U.S. Customs inspector your word that you are an American citizen won’t be good enough to re-enter the country after Wednesday.

Beginning on Thursday, Americans aged 19 and older traveling back to the United States from Mexico or Canada will have to present a U.S. passport or other approved travel documents while trying to gain entry back into the United States.

Individuals who don’t have a U.S. passport or the approved travel documents will then have to present a government issued photo identification and valid birth certificate to gain access back into the country. Approved travel documents include the Trusted Traveler Card, U.S. military identification with travel orders, and others.

The same regulations apply to Canadian citizens.

“CBP has been gearing up for this security enhancement for months now. We believe we are ready,” said Hector A. Mancha, assistant director of field operations and border security, for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Field Office in Laredo. “We recognize this is a big change and it is incumbent on all of us to make sure we are clear on all the changes and the responsibilities.”

Citizens who don’t have the necessary identification to cross back to the U.S. will experience a delay as authorities try to determine their identity and citizenship, he said.

Children less than 18 years old will only have to present a certified birth certificate.

The changes are part of the Department of Homeland Security’s Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, whose goal is to secure the nation’s border.

For the past several days, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers have been handing out information that outlines the new requirements at the ports of entry, authorities said.

Although the new regulations take effect on Thursday, a transition period takes place from Jan. 31 through June 2009, which is when full implementation takes place.

The transition period will allow U.S. citizens to become more aware of the new requirements and become accustomed to having to present two forms of identification at border crossings.

“We don’t like wait times (at the bridges) anymore than you do, but we believe these changes will make our border more sufficient and our country more secure,” Mancha said.

Currently, the CBP officers stationed at international crossings all over the U.S. deal with 8,000 different types of identification from individuals trying to gain entry into the country, ranging from library cards to baptismal certificates.

With the implementation of the new requirements, the officers will be able to immediately identify the 12 used for proof of U.S. citizenship.

U.S. Consul Cecilia Elizondo-Herrera, of the U.S. Consulate in Matamoros, said it is important for U.S. citizens living in Mexico to know of the new regulations that take effect on Thursday.

“It is very important that those Americans living, residing or visiting Mexico … are completely clear on what they must have in order to return to the United States,” she said.