With new passport requirements, Nuevo Progreso seeing fewer visitors

NUEVO PROGRESO — The Winter Texans have gone home, and visitors who usually cross the border to frequent this city in the slow summer months aren’t coming here this year.

Community leaders say tourism in this tiny border town has plummeted in recent months. Business, they claim, has declined by 60 percent this summer compared to the wintertime.

The economic bogeyman isn’t global recession, though. It’s a June 1 change to U.S. travel rules requiring that all U.S. citizens have a passport or PASS Card in hand to return to the country through a land port of entry.

People in Nuevo Progreso blame the new set of rules, dubbed the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, for being too onerous for casual shoppers who once strolled down the town’s main strip in search of street food, trinkets and discounted medication.

Despite numerous efforts to spread the word about the new requirement, including several passport fairs in the Rio Grande Valley, many are still not applying for the necessary travel documents.

"Some people have issues with money. Some might just not be interested in obtaining one," said Felix Garza, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. "People make their own decisions."

Residents believe the visitors Nuevo Progreso needs to stay afloat while the snowbirds are away aren’t coming for fear that they won’t make it back into the United States.

But despite the new rules, Garza assures U.S. citizens they can still return to their country without much hassle — as long as they carry their birth certificate and some form of government-issued photo identification. 

"We cannot deny entry to a U.S. citizen," Garza said. "We are responsible for facilitating legitimate travel."

In her 30 years running El Disco Super Center, a towering three-story shopping center located a few steps away from the U.S.-Mexico border, Smiriam Hernandez has never experienced such a dramatic drop in visitors. Hernandez said she is receiving as much as 70 percent less income compared to before the new travel requirement took effect.

"I keep having to inject money into my business to keep surviving," Hernandez said. "Instead of taking money out, we’re just putting it in."

Residents, tourists and business owners like Hernandez all blame the same culprit: "The problem is the passport," she said.

Before June 1, Lucinda Gonzalez and her two aunts traveled from San Antonio at least once a month to visit the dentist and purchase liquor, pottery and knickknacks here.

But documentation problems kept one of the aunts from getting her passport before the deadline, and their visits to Mexico were postponed until two weeks ago when the document finally came in the mail.

The women travel through deep South Texas solely to spend time in Nuevo Progreso, usually grabbing a bite to eat as they stroll down Avenida Benito Juarez.

"We like the safety in (Nuevo) Progreso," Gonzalez said. "We’d rather come here than go to Nuevo Laredo."

Some here blame the H1N1 flu pandemic and headlines about drug cartel violence along the Mexican border for the decline. There is disagreement about whether the reeling U.S. economy has worsened or alleviated the situation — some say Americans are staying home to save money, while others believe they travel to Mexico in search of bargains.

"People still came after all that," Hernandez said of the economic crisis. Rather, the problem has been tougher passport rules.

Although business owners are accustomed to seeing significantly less tourism in the summer — as much as 45 percent less than during the wintertime in years past, according to community leaders — residents say the main strip has been eerily empty the past few months.

"Just look at it," Speedy Drinks waiter Tino Cruz said as he motioned with his head toward the tourist-less street on a recent weekday. "It’s sad."

A non-scientific poll conducted by the Nuevo Progreso Chamber of Commerce surveyed 300 people at a Wal-Mart parking lot just after June 1. It found that about 70 percent of the Weslaco residents surveyed said the new passport requirement diminished the likelihood they would visit Mexico.

"People said they had problems with the cost, or gathering their documents," said chamber Treasurer Dr. Maribel Martinez. "But it seems to be getting better and people are more conscientious now. Before, people didn’t want to accept it."

Martinez said community leaders are having a difficult time adjusting to the change because they have never needed to work hard to entice Americans to Nuevo Progreso, a place that is generally considered safe, easy to access and inexpensive.

"We’re lucky," Martinez said.

Over time, the town has become completely dependent on tourism — and with the recent decline in business, city officials need to prepare bigger advertising campaigns to draw people back.

"It’s weird," Martinez said of the situation. "We’ve never had to worry about it before."

Now, Nuevo Progreso officials are having their own passport fairs in Weslaco. Business owners, including El Disco Super Center’s Hernandez, have banded together to strengthen the town’s promotional campaign, Sabor a Mexico.

Officials are creating a Nuevo Progreso Web site and purchasing advertising through Valley media outlets. Hernandez also has approached customs officials and asked them to be more lenient with people crossing back into the United States. 

"We need to be more conscious, more careful about how we handle our business," Martinez said. "We want to invite people to get their passports."

Despite the troubling figures cited by Nuevo Progreso leaders, officials at the Progreso-Nuevo Progreso International Bridge recorded only a 33 percent decline in visitors in June 2009 compared to the same month last year. Though July 2009 traffic was also down from its year-ago level, the disparity was 10 percentage points smaller than the June-to-June comparison, according to data provided by bridge director Julie Guerra Ramirez.

"I can tell you there’s been a slight increase (in visitors) every weekend," Ramirez said, pointing to a gradual rebound in traffic levels. "People want to come."

Martinez also said business is slowly improving in Nuevo Progreso, perhaps due to the passport fairs.

CBP officials say compliance with the new regulation has been high — about 95 percent of people present acceptable documents at ports of entry.

The change was part of the U.S. effort to secure the nation’s borders after 9/11. The rules affect U.S. citizens who once could return to their country simply by declaring themselves American citizens. The change also affects citizens of Canada and Bermuda, who previously did not have to show passports when entering the United States.

The passport rule went into effect at airports in 2007. The rules for Mexicans have not changed; they have long needed special border crossing cards or passports with visas to legally enter the country.

Those crossing at land ports of entry who present other forms of identification — such as a driver’s license — typically make it back across quickly, Garza said.

"They may get asked a few questions, a few checks from CBP," Garza said. "But it shouldn’t take long. … Just seconds to minutes."

Officials said a lack of a passport does not increase a traveler’s chance of being referred to a secondary inspection.

"We’re willing to work with people," Garza said. "There’s no point in people not being allowed to get back in if they are a United States citizen."