Dena Richardson/KFOX News Reporter Posted: 5:37 pm MDT May 28, 2009Updated: 6:32 pm MDT May 28, 2009
EL PASO, Texas — Officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the June 1 deadline requiring a passport to return from Mexico and Canada is set and will not be pushed back.
“However, we are not envisioning returning, turning people back or taking any drastic measures with people who don’t have their proper documents,” said Director of Field Operations Ana Hinojosa.
Hinojosa said CBP officers will be ‘flexible. She said they will warn people who are not in compliance with the law, but allow them to cross if they have other documentation including a receipt from their passport application.
“We do have a responsibility to ensure that we are properly identifying people who are presenting themselves,” said Hinojosa.
But not everyone feels that they should be so lenient.
“They need a passport, and that’s it,” said Davy Carrillo, of central El Paso. “They shouldn’t be flexible with it.” He said CBP officers should require passports because the deadline has already been pushed back in the past.
“Well I think that they had plenty of time already to get all those forms in,” said Carrillo. “And I feel like they give them enough time to do what they have to do.”
But Hinjosa said they understand passport applicants have been enduring a flooded system with long lines. Plus applicants must wait several weeks before they receive their passport in the mail. But in the end, she said, the border will be more secure.
“We’re in a better position to be able to positively identify the person with these secure documents,” said Hinojosa.
Congressman Silvestre Reyes released a statement urging people to not consider this ‘flexibility’ as an extension of the deadline. He said citizens without their proper documents will face extended delays when crossing back into the country.
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