Border entry fee study sparks northern opposition

A proposed study of a fee to enter the United States by land has prompted wide opposition from lawmakers from northern states.

Last month, in its 2014 fiscal year budget proposal, the Department of Homeland Security requested permission to study an entry fee at the nation’s land border crossings. Currently it costs nothing to enter the country by land. Air and sea crossings already have a fee of under $2 that is included in ticket prices.

But 18 Republican and Democrat lawmakers sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano saying that an entry fee would hurt communities on the border that rely on people and goods moving between the U.S. and Canada.

Fee backers say border entries are in need of infrastructure improvements that aren’t currently funded.