July 26th, 2023
by Nick Reisman
Two New York House lawmakers on Wednesday called for expanded staffing and resources at the U.S.-Canadian border in a bipartisan push to address the issue.
Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik and Democratic Rep. Brian Higgins in a letter to Customs and Border Protection called for the additional resources at ports of entry in order to address crossings at the border.
The letter from the lawmakers comes during a busy summer travel season, an uptick that has come after the suspension of pandemic-era rules.
“Excessive delays for travelers cannot continue as we are in the busy summer travel season,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter. “CBP must always properly staff our Northern Border ports of entry in order to ensure border crossings are as seamless as possible for both our constituents and our Canadian neighbors to the North. We strongly urge that you maintain requisite resources at the Northern Border to allow for its proper functioning.”
Lawmakers representing upstate and western New York have pointed to concerns over staffing at the border for years. Some officers have been re-assigned temporarily to the border with Mexico. Higgins’ office said 34 officers from the Port of Buffalo were re-deployed.
Stefanik, meanwhile, noted wait times have increased in parts of the North Country as well as along the Peace Bridge in western New York.
See the full article from Spectrum News here.
