As U.S. Customs and Border Protection is holding town hall meetings to discuss reducing its hours of operation at Antler, Carbury and Maida, Gov. Doug Burgum released a statement on Wednesday, Nov. 6, urging the federal agency to maintain its schedule at the three North Dakota ports of entry.
“We are committed to maintaining the vital and convenient access between North Dakota and our neighbor and important economic partner, Manitoba,” Burgum said. “While we support efforts to create efficiencies, we are concerned that reducing hours of operation will have negative impacts on tourism, the transfer of goods and the local and regional economies. We urge the CBP to maintain its current hours of operation at these three ports of entry.”
The aim of the changed hours is to allow U.S. Customs and Border Protection to redirect resources to ports with greater commercial and passenger volumes.