WASHINGTON — A New York congressman wants to add some Zoom to the sluggish effort to clear a bilateral backlog of Nexus trusted-traveller applications.
If passed, the “Make Nexus Work Act,” introduced by Democrat Rep. Brian Higgins, would require U.S. Customs and Border Protection to rely on video teleconferencing instead of in-person interviews.
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Higgins says that thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, a 2021 pilot project showed the agency is already well-equipped to use remote interviews to handle Nexus renewals.
The Nexus enrolment process in Canada has been slowed to a crawl by a dispute between the two countries over what sort of legal powers and protections U.S. agents would have on Canadian soil.
A new workaround, announced earlier this month, splits the joint interview process into two separate meetings — one with Canadian border officials, the other with their U.S. counterparts.
Air travellers bound for the U.S. from certain Canadian airports can make that second interview part of their travel plans, provided the first interview has already taken place.
Both agencies are also experimenting with a process that allows separate in-person interviews to take place on opposite sides of selected Canada-U.S. land entry points.
“The technology, training, and procedures are already in place,” Higgins said in a statement Monday after introducing the bill in the House of Representatives.
“Let’s expand the program to break down existing barriers and backlogs getting in the way of efficient cross-border travel.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 30, 2023.
