In recent months, the U.S. government has required boaters to check in with customs officials by phone, then clear immigration with a personal visit.
In Palm Beach County, boaters must drive to a station at Palm Beach International Airport. In Broward County, they have to go to Port Everglades. They’re still better off than boaters returning to the Middle Keys, who must choose Miami or Key West.
Congress might change the law, which has been enforced more strictly since the merging of federal agencies to create the Department of Homeland Security and the outbreak of the Iraq war. In the meantime, howls of protest are bringing some relief.
On busy boating weekends, immigration staff will be sent to marinas in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. Zachary Mann, spokesman for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Tuesday he didn’t have times and locations, though they would “definitely not” be on duty every weekend.
Mann said boaters could expect relief during the upcoming Fourth of July weekend.
Some boating enthusiasts and industry representatives hailed the idea. “Can’t come soon enough,” said Frank Herhold, executive director of the Marine Industries Association of South Florida in Fort Lauderdale.
The current system is a bureaucratic mess, Herhold said. “It’s ludicrous. It doesn’t emphasize national security like it should. Do we really expect to have the bad guys check in at U.S. Customs and Border Protection?”
Palm Beach County Commissioner Warren Newell said the process does nothing to deter smuggling of people, drugs or anything else because wrongdoers are not going to travel miles to present themselves.
Newell said spot checks of incoming boats would be a more effective way to prevent or catch people doing something illegal.
“Their process is punishing the law-abiding citizens,” he said.
Newell returned Sunday from a Bahamas trip with his family and spent 45 minutes on hold before getting through to the customs office. He was told the airport was closed, and he’d need to go there the next day.
Newell didn’t believe that, so he called the airport and learned the immigration office was still open. He loaded everyone in the car and drove to the airport, where their identities were checked.
Mann said that despite the inconvenience, requiring boaters to check in sometimes catches people presenting false documents.
“We’re fully aware that most boaters are law-abiding, compliant citizens,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that this is a very trying time in our nation’s history, and security measures are part of our reality right now.”
By Anthony Mann, Sun Sentinel
