WASHINGTON (NEWS1130) – A bill to simplify crossing the Canadian-US border has just been introduced in American Congress.
It’s a long-awaited development.
The Harper and Trudeau governments have both signed so-called preclearance deals with the Obama administration, but the arrangement required implementing legislation and US lawmakers had not advanced it as a priority.
The plan involves a pilot project to test a new way of crossing the border, which is getting screened before the actual international boundary to ease bottlenecks and speed up traffic.
Such a system already exists at airports, but could be extended to train stations, bus stations, and even someday highway driving. The pilot project will first take place at train stations in Vancouver and Montreal.
The US legislation makes clear American customs agents accused of committing crimes on the job would be prosecuted in US courts.