A request by the Department of Homeland Security to conduct a study on the implications of a border crossing fee has been met with opposition by lawmakers in states that share a border with Canada. Lawmakers along the southern border with Mexico are much more open to the idea of charging a fee to enter the U.S., according to the Associated Press.
Currently it is free to enter the U.S. by land; a charge less than $2 is applied to tickets for those entering by plane or ship. The study would involve setting up and testing every element that would be necessary in order to charge a fee, stopping just short of charging the fee, ABC News reports.
In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano 18 Republican and Democrat lawmakers from the House explained their opposition to a fee, according to the Associated Press.
"The imposition of such a toll would act as a barrier to the greater economic integration that we seek, and is the absolute last thing we should be doing to grow our economy," the letter said.
Michael Hill, the owner of a gas station in Washington just south of the Canadian border, estimates that 90 percent of his business comes from Canadians looking to save roughly $1.30 per gallon in gas and to stock up on wine and beer at prices half of what they are north of the border, reports the Associated Press.
"It's a deterrent," Hill said of the proposed fees when speaking with the Associated Press. "(The government) should be doing anything they can to get them to down here to buy more."
Lawmakers on the southern border with Mexico look at the proposed fee in a completely different light. Instead of seeing it as something that will hurt business lawmakers are looking at a fee as a way to offset some of the costs of maintaining the border.
Rep. Ruben E. Hinojosa, D-Tex., told the Associated Press about the possible benefits a border crossing fee could bring.
"I would support crossing fees only if the funds garnered would be used to upgrade our facilities, provide better equipment for our agents, or used for the hiring of more agents at our border crossings," Hinojosa said.
Some think that a crossing fee is inevitable in the future but instead of being charged by the government it will be from a private company. Ken Morris, president of marketing research firm Crossborder Group Inc., told the Associated Press that the future of border crossings is going to be a partnership between private companies and the government.
"I think that it's inevitable that more border regions use those tools and those who don't want to use it that's their choice, but they shouldn't take the ability for other regions to at least look at that option," Morris said. "For those regions that want the ability to charge a fee, we need good analyses to create good policy."
