Justin O'Brien
October 18, 2004

The U.S. Visa and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program, known as US VISIT, will be rolled out in November at select border crossings and border ports of entry. The security program is already in place in 115 of the nation's airports and 15 principal sea ports having been implemented in January of this year. Mayors have been expressing considerable concern about the implementation of the program at the nation's border cities and ports of entry due to the potential negative impact on daily cross'border commerce, trade, tourism and transportation. All of these play critical roles in sustaining border city and surrounding area economies, and support international and NAFTA related trade movement and economic growth in cities throughout the country.

The program will first be implemented in the cities of Laredo, Douglas (AZ) and Port Huron (MI) on November 15, but will then expand to the 50 busiest border ports of entry by the end of the year. Current U.S. Department of Homeland Security plans are for the program to be in place in all border ports of entry by the end of 2005. There are 165 border ports of entry in the country.

Conference of Mayors Trustee Laredo Mayor Betty Flores, Co-chair of the Conference's Cities and Borders Task Force, and Chair of the Conference's Business Council indicated her expectation and hope that the program will not slow trade, commerce and retail shopping. "We are cautiously optimistic that it won't impede, trade or traffic or people that are so used to crossing our border," she said. Laredo is the second busiest border port of entry in the country vital to cross border international trade with Mexico and one of 22 such border ports in Texas. The busiest U.S. port of entry is the City of Detroit, similarly vital to trade with Canada. Detroit Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick co-chairs the Conference's Cities and Borders Task Force with Flores.

Mayors were joined by Jim Williams of DHs' US VISIT office and Theresa Brown Director of the Americans for Better Borders coalition at the US Chamber of Commerce at their 72nd Winter Meeting in Washington, DC earlier this year for a Cities and Borders Task Force discussion of the implementation of US VISIT at border ports'of-entry. The Mayors unanimously passed a resolution urging that the Homeland Security Secretary, or his designees, directly consult with the Border Cities in implementing US VISIT at the national borders at the 72nd Annual Conference of Mayors in Boston in June. The full text of the resolution can be viewed on the Conference website at usmayors.org/uscm/resolutions/72nd_conference/international_01.asp