“It is a real border, and we need to address it as a real border.”

That’s what U.S. 国土安全 珍妮特·纳波利塔诺 insisted about the U.S.-Canadian border at a Washington, 直流. conference on border issues this week.

CBCæ–°é—» quoted Napolitano as saying, “People are used to going back and forth, and the hockey teams go back and forth…. People just don’t think of it as two different countries. But the reality exists that there’s a border there.”

In a 全球 & 邮件 article about the event, headlined “Obama’s message: Glory days of open border are gone,” 专栏作家 约翰Ibbitson wrote that Napolitano’s goal was “…to throw a bucket of reality on anyone who hoped that the arrival of Barack Obama’s new administration would herald a loosening of new restrictions on cross-border traffic.”

Ibbitson went on to say that “Canadian politicians, and industry leaders on both sides of the border, hoped that the arrival of a new, Democratic administration would lessen the emphasis on security that Mr. Napolitano’s predecessor, 迈克尔·切尔托夫, placed on border relations.”

根据CBC, Napolitano “…also said there would be no further delay of the 西半球旅行计划, which as of June 1 will require adults entering the United States from Canada, 加勒比海, Bermuda or Mexico to present a passport. That phase of the initiative has been delayed several times.”

照片由吕晓东 (Flickr的)