Relating to the free flow of people and the fair trade of goods and services across the border between the United States and Canada..

Posted: February 22, 2000
Contact: Representative Gail Phillips at (907) 465-2689

Section 110 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) requires the Immigration and Naturalization Service to have in place by March 31, 2001, an automated system to document every non-U.S. citizen entering and exiting the United States. If this provision is implemented it would cause massive congestion at land border crossings between the U.S. and Canada and threaten the economic structure on both sides of the border.

Resolution HCR 48 requests the United States Congress to amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) to call for the exemption of Canadians from Section 110 of that act and to provide additional resources to facilitate expedient border crossings.

Canada and the U.S. have a long practice of not requiring the majority of their citizens to fill out formal documentation to enter each other's country. At present, travelers leaving the U.S. do not have to stop at U.S. Customs upon departing. Under Section 110 every vehicle would have to stop in both directions, so that the entry and departure of all non-U.S. citizens could be documented. Section 110 goes against the cooperative efforts to cut red tape at the border of the 1995 Shared Border Accord and the Open Skies Agreement, and the Canada-U.S. Partnership forum (CUSP).

Canada and the U.S. share the longest undefended border in the world and bilateral trade exceeds $1 billion every year supporting more than 2 million jobs. Over 100 million people cross the border annually. In 1997, 15 million Canadians visited the U.S. for at least one day and 13 million Americans took overnight trips to Canada. We need laws to make travel between our countries easier, not more difficult.

The Council of State Governments (CSG), CSG West, The State of Oregon, The National Governors Association and the Cascadia Mayors Council all have adopted resolutions in favor of an exemption from the IIRIRA Section 110, for Canadians.

Your support for this message to the President of the U.S., the U.S. Congress and other state legislatures would help to ensure that our strong relationship with Canadians and economic benefits of this association would be maintained.