INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

FACILITATING MOVEMENT ACROSS U.S. INTERNATIONAL LAND BORDERS

WHEREAS, the United States and Canada share the longest border in the world; and

WHEREAS, the United States and Mexico share a 2,000 mile border that similarly stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean; and

WHEREAS, the United States and Canada have the largest bilateral trade relationship in the world, exceeding $1 billion every day; and

WHEREAS, Mexico is a significant and growing trading partner with the United States, and U.S.-Mexico trade, tourism and cross-border commerce are a significant part of the economy of U.S. border states; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. auto industry alone conducts $300 million worth of trade with Canada each day, and trade volume between the United States and Mexico is similarly significant and exceeded $130 billion last year; and

WHEREAS, states not on the border benefit heavily from these relationships as well, with interior states accounting for approximately 56 percent of U.S.-Canada trade; and

WHEREAS, all 48 contiguous states benefit from increased trade with Mexico that passes almost entirely through southern border land ports, including 25 states that tripled their exports to Mexico from 1988 to 1994 and 14 states that doubled their exports to Mexico in the same period; and

WHEREAS, the rate of cross-border traffic is steadily increasing, so that in 1996 Canadian citizens entered the United States 76 million times and American citizens entered Canada more than 55 million times; and

WHEREAS, 254 million people, 75 million cars, and 3.5 million trucks cross the southern border at U.S. land border ports of entry every year, and this traffic is similarly increasing; and

WHEREAS, Section 110 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 requires the U.S. Attorney General to develop an automated entry-exit control system to register "all aliens" entering and departing the United States; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services has indicated that it cannot meet the September 30, 1998 deadline for implementing the entry and exit tracking system and that it does not have the appropriation necessary to put the system in place; and

WHEREAS, the proposed entry-exit control system will place an unmanageable requirement on border-crossing services, impose serious delays at U.S. international land borders and result in unintended negative consequences for international trade, tourism, and the economies in our cities and regions; and

WHEREAS, mayors recognize the importance of increased trade and tourism between the United States and Mexico, as a more prosperous Mexican economy will provide benefits for both nations,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that The U.S. Conference of Mayors calls on Congress and the President to work to enact legislation this year that suspends implementation of Section 110 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, until they can ensure that any entry-exit control system, if deemed necessary, does not disrupt trade, tourism or other legitimate cross-border traffic at land border points of entry.