New laws prompt officials to tour the border

Border crossing
Border crossing
MPR Photo/Tom Robertson

New border restrictions have prompted a tour of Twin Cities based lawmakers to Duluth and International Falls.

DFL Senators Linda Scheid of Brooklyn Park, Ann Rest of New Hope, and Mee Moua of St. Paul are getting a first hand look at some of the state's northern borders.

Moua represents the Senate on a national immigration task force. She said the state lawmakers could play a role in making new federal border restriction easier to bear.

"We're very concerned about these federal regulations and their impact on the day to day lives of our citizens," Moua said. "And so to the extent that we can interject to help assist in any way come up with maybe solutions that would help lessen that impact, we would like to be able to have the opportunity to do that."

Moua noted that the Washington state has come up with a new enhanced drivers license that can serve as identification for a border crossing.

The tour began at the Duluth port, will continue to International Falls and then a meeting in Winnipeg with Canadian provincial and federal officials.