Border law will cause `nightmare, U.S. told

Costly delays feared under new plan for ID checks

WASHINGTON A controversial new law could turn the world's longest
undefended border into Checkpoint Charlie and irreparably harm Canada's
friendship with the United States, U.S. senators warn.

``This sets a bad precedent for U.S. foreign relations,'' Michigan Senator
Spencer Abraham said yesterday at the start of a public hearing on the
tough new border law. ``It would create a nightmare.''

By next October, anyone who is not a American citizen must pass through an
automated identification system while crossing the border.

Political and business leaders warned at a senate subcommittee hearing
yesterday the plan could kill border communities and lead to billiondollar
business losses in Canada, the United States and Mexico.

U.S. immigration officials admitted they can't estimate the cost of
installing a socalled smartcard system at checkpoints along the
CanadaU.S. border.

They appealed to legislators to amend the act to allow a twoyear
feasibility study before plunging ahead.

``It's absolutely unworkable,'' fumed Senator Alfonse D'Amato, predicting
delays as long as 2 1/2 days at some CanadaU.S. border points. ``How do
you check 100 million people going back and forth? There will be huge
economic consequences.

`MEANSPIRITED'

``This can only be interpreted by our friends in Canada as meanspirited,''
he added. ``We have a great relationship let's not injure it.''

The New York Republican is one of nine influential borderstate senators
who oppose the new exitentry system. They're backing a proposed bill by
Abraham that would allow crossborder visits to continue unhindered.

An estimated 116 million people cross the CanadaU.S. border every year,
including about 100 a minute who enter the United States for business,
recreation or family visits, said Abraham, chair of the immigration
subcommittee.

Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy complained that Section 110, the
``exitentry'' portion of the bill, was added in a private session last
summer before legislators considered its consequences or cost. It's meant
to staunch the flow of immigrants and drugs entering the United States
illegally.

``This is not Checkpoint Charlie,'' Leahy said. ``This is the longest
unguarded frontier in the world.'' Checkpoint Charlie was the main crossing
point in the Berlin Wall during the Cold War.

``This is like using a sledgehammer on an ant,'' said Dan Stamper,
president of the Detroit International Bridge Company. ``This is not a
minor inconvenience. We're talking about closing the border.''

DAMAGE BUSINESS

Bill Stenger, president of Jay Peak Ski Resort in Vermont, said regular
border delays of several hours damage business and tourism.

A 30minute delay on a winter weekend ``can be felt for weeks'' in lost
business because skiers go elsewhere to avoid border hassles, Stenger said.

About 110,000 Canadians a year are drawn to his resort and provide about 55
per cent of his business. The resort, which employs 325 people, would be
forced to close if border delays worsen, he said.

``If we fail, there will be a profound economic tremor'' in the rest of
northern Vermont, which already has high unemployment and ``serious
economic difficulties,'' he said.

``We should be making crossings as effortless as possible,'' Stenger said.
``Canadians are good neighbours we need not be frisking them.''

But California Senator Dianne Feinstein said she will ``fight like a
tiger'' to keep the contentious law intact because the United States must
pounce on illegal immigrants and drugrunners.

An estimated 5 million illegal ``aliens'' live in the United States, she said.

California attracts the largest number of illegal residents, and its
taxpayers are tired of paying for social services and other costs to help
them, Feinstein said.

The new law is needed to stop drug lords who easily cross U.S. borders, she
said.