-Leaders say tribal enrolment cards should be enough for band members to cross border-

OSOYOOS TIMES-January 16, 2008-

By Maureen ParriottrnOsoyoos Times

Leaders of the Okanagan First Nations and Colville Confederated Tribes voiced concerns about new border crossing regulations during last week's three-day Town Hall Meeting held by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (USCBP) staff at the Osoyoos-Oroville border crossing.
Many felt that the birth certificate and picture ID requirements which go into effect Jan. 31, as well as the 2009 deadline for having a Canadian or U.S. passport, would create unwarranted complications and expense for their members.
The leaders also wondered why their tribal enrollment cards were not sufficient identification as the cards already prove that an individual is a citizen of either a Canadian or an American tribe.
Several tribal representatives also mentioned that tribal lands span the border and many people have immediate family on both sides. Many local First Nations members work in both Canada and the U.S. and some are worried about which passport to apply for if it made them a citizen of a different country than their relatives.
USCBP Branch Chief Tish Lagerway and District Chief Ron Arigoni expressed sympathy for First Nations' concerns and reassured the attendees that the passport regulation may not in fact be enacted in the summer of 2009 because of the application backlog in both countries. They said this might give the tribes more time to resolve their concerns.
Independent consultant Arnie Marchand, a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes who is involved in lobbying for many First Nations causes, said that the issue of tribal enrollment cards as a valid form of identification had not even been considered by the U.S. government until six months ago. He urged the First Nations leaders to contact Canadian and American legislators to promote the use of tribal enrollment cards in lieu of passports.
In the meantime, Lagerway and Arigoni advised that First Nations members obtain original or certified copies of their birth certificates to present with their tribal enrollment cards before the Jan. 31 deadline. They also said it was possible for U.S. and Canadian passport scanners to eventually work with coded tribal ID cards like the ones the Colville Confederated Tribes already have in the event that the cards supplant passports.