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RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
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RUEAHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RHMFIUU/HQ USNORTHCOM
RUEAIAO/HQ ICE IAO WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 OTTAWA 002058 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KCRM PGOV ASEC KHLS ECON CASC CA
SUBJECT: THE U.S. - CANADA BORDER IN 2007: GROUND TRUTH AND 
POLICY IMPLICATIONS (PART III OF III - IMMIGRATION, FIRST 
NATIONS, WHTI, AND LAW ENFORCEMENT) 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED--PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. 
 
¶1. (SBU) As part of a year-long effort to "map the border," 
Mission Canada officers visited the frontier to observe 
ground truth in how the border functions and how to make it 
work better.  Part I of this three-part series reviewed 
conclusions and recommendations, Part II covered ports of 
entry, trade, and the environment.  This third part reviews 
immigration models, First Nations issues, WHTI, and law 
enforcement. 
 
IMMIGRATION AND MULTICULTURALISM 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Canada has taken in over one million immigrants 
since September 2001, about 200,000 per year, and now its 
population has the second highest proportion of immigrants in 
the world at 17%, surpassed only by Australia at 21%.  The 
forecast in 2008 is 265,000 new immigrants.  Before 1960 
Canada's immigrants came from Europe, but changing economic 
and demographic trends have resulted in an influx of East and 
South Asians since the 1980s.  India, China, and the 
Philippines are the three most important source countries for 
new immigrants to Canada.  Immigrants in Canada settle 
primarily in large cities, with over 46% of Toronto's 
population now being foreign born, followed by Vancouver 
(37.5%), Montreal (28%), and Ottawa (17%). 
 
¶3. (SBU) Canadian officials point out that there are multiple 
checkpoints along the road to immigration and a solid system 
for reviewing the names and background of immigrants along 
the way.  In Mission Canada's judgment, Canada's system for 
immigration security checks approaches that of the U.S. 
(Comment:  However, although its focus is on all travelers to 
Canada and not immigrants in particular, the October 30, 
2007, report by the Auditor General on the Canada Border 
Services Agency points up the need for better use by CBSA of 
risk-based processes (including collection and analysis of 
intelligence) and improved procedures for creating and using 
lookouts.  End comment.) 
 
¶4. (SBU) In December 2004, Canada and the U.S. implemented a 
"Safe Third" agreement as part of the Smart Border Action 
Plan.  Safe Third guidelines prevent refugee applicants from 
applying for refugee status in more than one country or 
"asylum shopping," i.e., not looking primarily for protection 
from persecution but rather for the country with high 
acceptance rates and the most generous resettlement 
arrangements.  This agreement was the first of its kind for 
Canada, and still represents the only safe third agreement in 
force here.  Currently it affects only those refugees who 
apply for asylum at a land border port of entry, and not 
those who fly from U.S. airports into Canada or make asylum 
claims at inland offices.  Since the implementation of this 
agreement, Canada has seen a one-third drop in refugee 
applications. 
 
WHTI - GENERAL 
-------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) When Congress passed the December 2004 Intelligence 
Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, few people focused on 
the details of the text, including the provision requiring 
Qthe details of the text, including the provision requiring 
that all travelers entering or re-entering the United States 
would eventually be required to present a passport or other 
secure, accepted document when applying for admission. 
(Currently, NEXUS, FAST, SENTRY, active duty military and 
merchant mariner's IDs are accepted alternatives.)  The 
administration has implemented this requirement through the 
Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), requiring air 
travelers to have a passport beginning January 23, 2007, to 
be followed at a later date by those entering the U.S. by 
land or sea (to include ferries). 
 
¶6. (SBU) The WHTI passport requirement was not well received 
in Canada.  Many perceived it as an unfriendly gesture toward 
 
OTTAWA 00002058  002 OF 004 
 
 
a country that is not only America's largest trading partner, 
but which has proven itself a steadfast and loyal ally in 
both war and peace.  Because of the unique U.S.-Canada 
relationship, many of our northern neighbors thought there 
should be special circumstances for Canadians.  The 
Government of Canada, Canadian parliamentarians and 
provincial government officials made entreaties across the 
board, asking essentially for Canadian citizens to be 
exempted from the passport rule.  The Border Caucus and many 
individual Members of Parliament, as well as Canadian tourist 
and travel associations, submitted comments on the notice of 
proposed rulemaking requiring passports. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The consistent message of Mission Canada, from 
Ottawa to Halifax to Vancouver, has been that Canadians, like 
American citizens, need to get a passport.  There are no 
exemptions for Canadians any more than there are for 
Americans. 
 
FIRST NATIONS SEEK WHTI EXCEPTION 
--------------------------------- 
¶8. (SBU) We have heard concerns from both Native Americans 
and "First Nations" (the Canadian equivalent of our Native 
Americans, referring to Indians, but not to Inuit (our 
Eskimos) or Metis (persons of mixed Caucasian, mainly French, 
and Indian origin) communities about the impact of WHTI.  The 
concerns are both practical (costs and bureaucracy) and 
ideological:  Canadian First Nations' members perceive 
themselves to be "people of the land" with a sovereign and 
inherent right to traverse the border, without a need to 
employ a document attesting to citizenship.  First Nations 
interlocutors frequently reference the Jay Treaty of 1794 
between the UK and USA, which they assert provides the right 
of "free passage" back and forth across the frontier. 
 
¶9. (SBU) In fact, the Jay Treaty was abrogated when 
hostilities commenced between the United States and United 
Kingdom in 1812.  Nevertheless, elements of that Treaty have 
been incorporated into U.S. law; e.g., Section 289 of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act which provides that "Nothing 
in this title shall be construed to affect the right of 
American Indians born in Canada to pass the borders of the 
United States, but such right shall extend only to persons 
who possess at least 50 per centum of blood of the American 
Indian race."  (No equivalent exists in Canadian law.) 
 
¶10. (SBU) Thus, American law allows for "free passage" across 
the border, but the law does not exempt individuals from 
documentary requirements; compliance with the documentary 
requirements of WHTI is necessary.  Some First Nations groups 
have inquired whether the Canadian government's "Status 
Indian Card" would provide sufficient documentary proof. 
Canada has some 770,500 Registered Indians on the Indian 
Register maintained by the Ministry of Indian and Northern 
Affairs.  Individuals on the Indian Register are entitled to 
Status Indian Cards (AKA Treaty Cards) verifying their 
eligibility for various social services, health care, and 
duty-free privileges.  Ottawa is nearly ready to produce a 
Qduty-free privileges.  Ottawa is nearly ready to produce a 
more secure new generation of Status Indian Card.  Canada 
intends to submit the new card to the Department of Homeland 
Security (DHS) for consideration as an "alternative document" 
that would meet WHTI requirements.  DHS has indicated that it 
will take a look at the new Status Indian Card.  Several 
First Nations groups have expressed interest in producing 
their own ID cards for border crossing purposes.  From a 
border management perspective, a standard, secure, uniform 
Status Indian Card is clearly preferable to a plethora of 
cards issued by individual First Nations' authorities. 
 
WHTI - AIR 
---------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) The passport requirement went into effect on 
January 23 for air travelers.  Prior to that time, Mission 
Canada engaged in a concerted outreach and public information 
campaign to ensure that both Canadians and Americans resident 
in Canada were aware of the new regulation.  Air travel from 
Canada to the U.S. was not disrupted on January 23 because of 
 
OTTAWA 00002058  003 OF 004 
 
 
the passport requirement.  An estimated 97 percent of 
travelers were in possession of passports when they arrived 
at the check-in desk.  By January 26, an estimated 99 percent 
of travelers were in compliance. 
 
¶12. (SBU) One reason that implementation of the WHTI air rule 
went so smoothly was Mission Canada's proactive approach in 
getting the message out.  Another factor was CBP's phased-in 
transition of the requirement, which provided that CBP would 
not fine carriers that boarded U.S.-bound passengers who did 
not have passports (but did have other legitimate documents 
attesting to identity and citizenship).  Officers at all 
posts in Mission Canada worked with CBP preclearance officers 
at Canadian airports to inform the carriers of this liberal 
phased-in approach.  Many of the air carrier station managers 
in Canada, particularly at smaller interior airports, had not 
heard about the phased-in program and were planning to deny 
boarding to passengers without passports on January 23.  Once 
they received the updated and accurate information, airline 
personnel did not deny boarding simply for lack of a 
passport.  The delayed flights, long lines of angry and 
disgruntled passengers, and complaints to the media that many 
expected did not occur.  As the Deputy Chief of Mission 
described it, watching January 23 preclearance processing in 
Toronto's Pearson Airport, "It was a non-event event." 
 
WHTI - LAND 
----------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) The challenge ahead is how best to prepare 
travelers to meet the second part of the WHTI regulations, 
which will require anyone entering the U.S. through the land 
border to have a valid passport or approved alternate 
document.  Barring legislation to change the schedule, this 
part will be implemented (again, likely via a phased-in 
process) in 2008.  (Comment:  Secretary Chertoff told the 
Ambassador in an October 29, 2007 meeting that DHS intended 
to enforce the requirement for passports or other acceptable 
secure documents on people entering the U.S. by land and sea 
in the late s or early fall of 2008.  Although this was not a 
fixed date, DHS would definitely impose the passport 
requirement during 2008.  End comment.)  The Canadian 
government has been in denial for a long while, holding out 
the hope that the U.S. Congress and administration would 
amend the law in ways favorable to Canada.  Canada's delay in 
working out a way to comply with U.S. air entry rules 
resulted in a last-minute rush on Canadian passport offices 
early in 2007.  Canadian passport applicants waited three 
months for a passport, causing thousands to change their 
spring and summer travel plans for 2007.  We do not see 
enough progress on the Canadian side to prevent a similar 
passport backlog when land crossings require a passport in 
¶2008.  Canadian officials are still hopeful that Congress 
will mandate the implementation date for passports for land 
border crossings to be June of 2009. 
 
WHTI - ALTERNATE DOCUMENTS 
-------------------------- 
 
¶14. (SBU) Canadian provincial and U.S. state governments are 
Q14. (SBU) Canadian provincial and U.S. state governments are 
now seeking to produce an acceptable alternative land border 
crossing document that can be used an an alternative a 
passport.  Washington State initiated a pilot project to 
produce an enhanced, more secure driver's license that 
records the bearer's citizenship.  DHS says that it is 
willing to consider the use of such a document at the land 
border.  The pilot project is being developed in fall 2007, 
with the first enhanced licenses possibly issued early in 
¶2008.  British Columbia has proposed a similar driver's 
license project.  The states of Vermont, Arizona, and New 
York have agreed to issue enhanced driver's licenses, and 
California and Ohio may join that group.  The provinces of 
Ontario and Quebec have also indicated that they will issue 
enhanced driver's licenses.  In the case of Ontario at least, 
an enhanced driver's license may take more time and expense 
to properly implement than Ontario authorities would like to 
admit.  Ontario driver's licenses are stored and issued by 
private, storefront contractors, not provincial government 
 
OTTAWA 00002058  004 OF 004 
 
 
officers, and the media has pointed out gaps in 
accountability and security. 
 
BORDER LAW ENFORCEMENT - TOWARDS A SEAMLESS APPROACH 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶15. (SBU) The post-9/11 move to enhance security on the 
border has led to a number of new initiatives to eliminate 
gaps in border geography, enhance information sharing, and 
better coordinate law enforcement operations.  Mission Canada 
reinvigorated several fora to better coordinate cross border 
crime and counter-terrorism policy - principally the Cross 
Border Crime Forum and the Bilateral Consultative Group on 
Counter-Terrorism.  The U.S. and Canada conducted the first 
trial "Shiprider" program to move towards cooperative marine 
policing of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway, which we 
hope will see law enforcement officers of both nations 
assigned to the other's border patrol boats.  Our two 
countries initiated the Integrated Border Enforcement Team 
(IBET) program, in which officers from the U.S. and Canada 
share office space at 15 locations on both sides of the 
border in order to better share information and coordinate 
local law enforcement activities.  And the U.S. and Canada 
have conducted national and local exercises to test our 
systems for responding to cross-border incidents. 
 
 
Visit our shared North American Partnership blog (Canada & 
Mexico) at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap 
 
Visit our shared North American Partnership blog (Canada & Mexico) at 
http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap 
 
WILKINS