Armstrong pushes for expanded port of entry hours

GRAND FORKS — U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D., is working with both Senate and House colleagues to expand operating hours at some of North Dakota’s ports of entry.

On July 27, Armstrong, U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, R-ID, and several senators and representatives from states sharing a border with Canada, introduced bicameral legislation that would require U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to match or exceed pre-pandemic hours.

“It’s important to many North Dakotans and our state’s economy that ports of entry with Canada are accessible,” Armstrong said via a press release issued by his office. “CBP recently announced that it will not maintain extended hours at the Maida and Northgate ports of entry. This decision will make it harder to conduct business, particularly for farmers during the summer.”

Of the 18 ports of entry between North Dakota and the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, only two — Pembina and the International Peace Garden Border Crossing – are open 24 hours.

Armstrong told the Herald that North Dakota’s ports of entry facilitate both tourism and trade.

“Grand Forks gets a ton of retail traffic down from Canada, and that obviously depends on the exchange rate,” he said. “But if you start going west of here, it’s all grain trucks, farmers and ranchers doing all that work.”

Armstrong said years of restrictions at ports of entry have frustrated residents on both sides of the border.

“To be honest, I’ve finally had enough,” he said. “Some of this started before COVID, but the COVID restrictions were terrible. It’s been really frustrating for a lot of border communities, and we need to figure out a solution.

“They’re reducing hours from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and our Canadian neighbors are frustrated,” he added. “We have to keep these open — these are our neighbors.”

Although Armstrong said he would prefer even more expanded hours than the bill stipulates, he said it would be an improvement from the status quo.

“I would have done the bill a little differently — made it even more open hours, but the reason we did it this way is because we wanted it to perfectly match the Senate bill,” he said. “If it gains any momentum, the best chance at having it become law is consistency on both sides.”

Armstrong said he and the bills’ other co-sponsors will push for committee hearings in the House and Senate when Congress returns from its summer recess.

Banish covers news pertaining to K-12 and higher education, as well as county commission coverage.