Tougher Boarder laws damage local tourism

By Tamara Gignac, Calgary Herald . CALGARY - The days when Canadians and Americans could flash their birth certificates and be waved into the United States end today as new document and identity rules kick in along the world's longest undefended border.
Now, you'd better have your passport ready.
For some Alberta border communities, the tough rules raise concerns.Businesses that rely on tourism dollars fear U. S. travellers and day trippers will choose to stay home rather than go to the trouble or expense of applying for a passport.
Trish Hill runs the Devil's Coulee Dinosaur Heritage Museum in Warner, a farming village located about 35 kilometres north of the Montana border. Americans are frequent visitors and she can't help but wonder if they will bother coming at all in an era of tighter border controls.
"I'm sure a lot of people are not prepared for this. It's a concern for us because we are a very small business," said Hill.
Ron Chapman also wonders if tougher regulations will result in fewer tourists. His camp-ground, 8 Flags, is one of the first off the highway in the small border town of Milk River, a frequent stop for Americans heading to Alaska.
"I'm seeing less traffic because of the recession down there. They aren't travelling like they used to," he said.
Surprisingly few Americans --only 30 per cent--own a passport, compared to 54 per cent of Canadians.
It's a troubling statistic, say Alberta tourism officials, because U. S. citizens are being encouraged to stay home and support their own economy rather than cross borders.http://www.expresspardons.com/

TWO MEN ARRESTED IN BOARDER CRASH

JULIA PRESTON from the new york times wrote.

Two Mexican men were arrested on federal human-trafficking charges Wednesday, a day after officials said three vans in which they were riding with scores of other Mexicans tried to run through the border station at San Diego. The attempted border-running, which led immigration and customs agents to fire on the vans, caused the authorities to close down the station — the busiest land crossing into the United States — for about four hours.One van driver and one passenger were taken to a San Diego hospital with gunshot wounds, one of them with serious injuries, the police said. www.ExpressPardons.com

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