The immigration officials

This chapter examines the varied roles of Canadian and American immigration officials in administering the Canada–US border in Cascadia, and is the second of three that reviews the empirical data for this study. Specifically, a total of 27 government officials were interviewed for this component of the research. These officials were interviewed at various Canada–US ports of entry, primarily within the Seattle–Vancouver corridor, as well as key Canadian and American policy officials who had developed and overseen the policies surrounding Chapter 16 of NAFTA. The study found that officials who developed the actual policies and laws that govern the management of the borders were critically important to the process of consistent border management. Thus, in the case of a continental-wide program such as NAFTA, it might be assumed that a common harmonious approach to administering status/visa applications at Canada–US ports of entry might be in force, especially after the 20 or so years since its inception in 1994. However, for a variety of reasons explored in this chapter, evidence suggested that this was arguably not the case. Indeed, local norms and values, together with issues such as institutional history, training programs, and separate national legislation, influenced substantially the interpretation and implementation of NAFTA on either side of the Canada–US border in Cascadia, as well as along the border at each port of entry.