More Inspector And More Lanes Open

BY ROBIN SMITH, Staff Writer

DERBY LINE, Vt.-STANSTEAD, Quebec -- A top official with U.S. Customs and Border Protection promised Thursday to work to ease traffic tie ups at the ports of entry in Derby Line.

Thomas Winkowski, CBP assistant commissioner for field operations, told U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and 140 people at the international Haskell Opera House that he will fill vacancies, give inspectors discretion to move traffic along, and make sure the new port of entry on Interstate 91 has enough lanes.

He said he will create a group to liaison between locals and border security officials in Derby Line, and set a meeting with truck drivers who are experiencing problems.

The abundant information that came out of Thursday's meeting also included a clear message about the unguarded side streets shared by Derby Line and Stanstead.

Rosendo Hinojosa, acting chief of the Swanton sector, said that U.S. Border Patrol is working to close those streets in its own way, if a local international committee doesn't do it.

Sanders, seated with Winkowski and others on the opera house stage in Quebec, told people sitting in seats in Vermont that he brought top officials here to make decisions.

"It's not acceptable to me and anyone in the room that there be waits of two or three hours" on the border, Sanders said. "If I were a Canadian, I would say I'm not going to come back."

Winkowski agreed with Sanders that there is low morale among inspectors, that the ports are short staffed, and that turnover is too high.

Winkowski said he spent two days in Derby Line looking at the ports of entry and the unguarded side streets, and talking with inspectors.

Winkowski promised to immediately fill eight to 10 vacancies at the ports here.

Managers, he said, will do a better job working with inspectors, making sure that they have the leeway they need to keep traffic moving.

"When we have back up, we don't have to query every person," Winkowski said, surprising many in the audience. "We have a responsibility in Customs and Border Protection that we are to facilitate and expedite trade and travel."

The small port in downtown Derby Line "is a real challenge," as a historic building that is also shared by the Derby Line post office, he said.

He said that the second inspection lane will be open regularly.

As for inspectors being required to open every trunk of every vehicle going through, Winkowski was clear. "I don't see the need of it.

"In times of back up, you do have the authority to implement mitigation procedures," Winkowski said of inspectors.

The goal is 100 percent identification of all people crossing the border, Winkowski said.

At some other ports, the identification rate is 43 percent because of the volume of travelers.

As for the special case of nearby Beebe Plain and Beebe, Quebec, where one side of Canusa Avenue is in Vermont and the other side is in Quebec, Winkowski said that inspectors tried to explain it to him.

He said he didn't understand it until he saw a woman back out of her driveway across the border, and then have to report to customs.

As for the side streets, Hinojosa said that pedestrians will be allowed to walk across the side streets and down to the Main Street port to report for inspection, and he said he will make sure his agents know that.

One by one, residents and local officials rose to tell their now-familiar experiences at the border.

Steve Farquarhson, a top field office official in CBP, said that everyone has the right to ask to speak to a supervisor at the ports, if there is a problem.

Union representatives of the customs inspectors, past and present, urged CBP officials to ease mandates.

Glenn Dockham, union president for CBP employees in Vermont, said that half of the inspectors at Highgate and Derby Line ports are considering other jobs.

Trustee Perry Hunt said that the feds and locals need to mend fences to work together.

"Nobody wants to put any citizen in jeopardy from a terrorist," he said.

Derby Line Fire Chief Craig Ellam criticized the U.S. General Services Administration, which is preparing the expansion of the Interstate 91 port of entry, for not working with the village especially over the trucking of hazardous materials.

Sanders said the GSA officials will meet with Derby Line officials.

Sanders also said that the federal government is looking at how overweight trucks are allowed on smaller roads but not on interstates.

Locals and Sanders expressed satisfaction about the meeting.

"The people had an opportunity to speak to decision makers. Obviously the success or failure will depend on the follow-up," Sanders said.

He said he, fellow U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch will stay on top of the situation.