Gianforte, Daines, Tester, all oppose hours reduction at four ports of entry

Editors Note: (4-16-19, 21;10): A few hours after the PCN went to press on Tuesday moning, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) annouced that the adjustment of hours at the Port of Raymond, Mont., mentioned in this story have been restored back to a 24-hour schedule effective Tuesday, April 23, as the CBP reassesses feedback received on the adjustment of hours at the Port.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced last Wednesday that the Port of Raymond will have its hours cutback starting April 14th, a week after a town hall meetings were held in Montana to talk about hours being cut at Port of Morgan in Loring.

At the Malta meeting at the Great Northern Lodge Room, each person who gave their opinion on the proposed hour reduction said they were against the move, saying that it would hurt local business in Phillips County and could force the Phillips County Motorsports non-profit organization (PCMS) out of business. Those people speaking out against the reduction of hours included local business leaders, representatives from PCMS and civic leaders from Montana and Canada.

CBP’s last Wednesday announced that the Port of Raymond would go from being open 24-hours to being open from only 6 a.m. to midnight.

In March, U.S. Congressman Greg Gianforte and U.S. Senator Steve Daines sent a letter to the Kevin McAleenan, then commissioner of CBP, who was named acting head of Homeland Security by President Donald Trump on April 8, demanding that the agency postpone any changes to the hours of operation at four Montana ports of entry, according to the letter.

“We request you delay any final decisions regarding changes to hours of operation until June 1st, 2019 when seasonal hours of operation changes are scheduled to take place. At the very least you should delay any decision until actually listening to impacted communities and talking to the people elected to represent Montanans,” the letter reads.

Gianforte and Daines rejected CBP’s efforts to put a price tag on maintaining the current hours of operation for the ports of entry.

“Your staff have informed our staff that these proposed changes would not result in any employees leaving Montana communities, and would result in reduction in overtime costs of $180,000. Keeping ports of entry open to rural Montana is worth more than $180,000,” Gianforte and Daines wrote.

Last Wednesday, Sen. Tester met with McAleenan following his appointment to the position after the departure of former Secretary Kirstjen Nielson, according to a press release from the Tester office. Sen. Tester urged him to reverse the decision to cut the hours of operation at ports of entry at the northern border.

“We’ve got an increasingly desperate humanitarian situation—one I saw firsthand—and a moral and policy failure from the Trump Administration at our southern border,” said Tester, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee. “I think that’s no secret to Acting Secretary McAleenan, who is stepping in to temporarily lead a department that needs to address these issues quickly, effectively, and humanely, as well as address the pressing issue of port hours reductions at our northern border. I’ll be holding his feet to the fire to ensure he does just that, rather than capitulate like his predecessors to the cruel, wasteful, and ineffective policies President Trump continues to push against the wishes of Republicans and Democrats alike.”

CBP is currently considering the feedback received for the Ports of Morgan, Scobey, and Opheim, according to the CPB press release, and will announce its decision prior to June 1, 2019. CBP says they will continue to monitor and analyze traffic and workload at these locations and will continue to receive feedback, but one speaker at the Malta town hall meeting said he didn’t believe the CBP was taking public comments seriously and had been told the decision on Port of Morgan had already been made.

Comments on the CBP’s proposal on reducing hours at ports of entry can be submitted through the following email address: [email protected].