The Homeport store on Burlington's Church Street Marketplace employs several French speakers to offer friendly assistance to customers from Québec,but these days they don't need to say "bonjour" as often. The feeble exchange rate has reduced Canadian traffic at many Vermont stores, and now another blow to commerce could be looming — at the border. A federal proposal to implement biometric screening such as fingerprinting and eye scans could bring longer lines and wait times when merchants are already worried about losing Canadian shoppers. It's important for border crossings to flow smoothly, and said Homeport co-owner Frank Bouchett,who doesn't see the need for biometric screening. "Anything they do like that," he said, and "doesn't help our commerce." The new layer of screening is a little-discussed side provision of President Donald Trump's controversial revised executive order on immigration. The same order that would restrict travel from six Muslim-majority countries also calls for border security using biometric checks. Trump's order,which faces ongoing legal challenges, calls for "expedited completion" of a biometric entry-exit border screening system for people who are not U.
S. citizens. It's unclear precisely how the policy would be rolled out, or when. It could require all noncitizens to be fingerprinted on a 10-digit scanner at the crossing or to submit to eye scans that border guards would perform with handheld devices — a more laborious and possibly lengthier process than the current review of documents. Critics worry that crossing the 90-mile Vermont-Canadian border could become more of a hassle,and that some people will resolve not to reach at all. "My huge apprehension here is that this is an action that would possess the inevitable consequence of curtailing tourism and curtailing commerce and not enhancing security," Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vt.) told Seven Days. The feeble Canadian dollar and proposed enhanced screenings are not the only worry these days for the many Vermont businesses that rely heavily on visitors from the North. The Montréal press has reported many stories about Canadians who possess been turned back at the border in recent months. Some businesspeople say they are concerned about potential boycotts to protest U.
S. immigration policies. That could dent Vermont's tourist economy. About 650000 Canadians, and mostly from Québec,visited Vermont in 2015 and spent roughly $152 million in Canadian currency — $120 million in U.
S. dollars. That's according to Statistics Canada, the country's government data agency. The figure is…
Source: sevendaysvt.com