Mending walls: making the border smarter will take time and serious planning. (Spotlight).

It sounds like a scene from a science fiction movie: x-rays, laser scanners, smart cards and explosives detectors. But Mexican and U.S. officials are seriously hoping this high-tech gadgetry will help speed up the legitimate flow of people and goods across their shared 2,000-mile border.

But while frequent border-crossers and freight shippers are excited about the prospect of zipping past checkpoints at light speed, several hurdles remain that could put the plan on hold for years.

"Some of the issues are pretty knotty, and pretty complicated," U.S. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge told U.S. press.

Like money. During a March visit to Mexico, Ridge and his Mexican counterparts agreed that new border management strategies were vital to accommodate the countries' growing commercial ties. And with nearly 1 million people crossing the border daily, security is a high priority for both sides. But missing from the plan so far is how to pay for it. Ridge has said the United States and the private sector could cover the initial improvements, but that maintaining the fancy hardware could be Mexico's job.

FORKING IT OVER

U.S. President George Bush's budget proposal includes US$10.7 billion for additional Border Patrol and Customs agents to speed up inspections, and a new entry and exit system to track the estimated 500 million annual entries through U.S. borders, ports and airports. The urgency of the plan is evident on both sides. AU.S. Chamber of Commerce report released in March found that security delays at the border since Sept. 11 have harmed the manufacturing, retail and tourism industries in Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico. Mexico's economy has felt the pinch as well, with clogged border checkpoints slowing the flow of Mexican exports. Experts say a big part of smoothing border traffic must include changing the inefficient restrictions on long-haul Mexican shipping trucks. Some U.S. lawmakers are still resisting full access to Mexican trucks, forcing carriers to unload their cargo into warehouses where short-haul trucks then pick up the goods to shuttle across the border. Cutting back on border bureaucracy o n both sides will also be vital for greasing crossing lanes. Bush has already given preliminary approval to a plan that would merge U.S. border agencies into one department, with the Justice Department taking over Customs inspections.

LET'S ALL GET ALONG

But beyond finances and logistics, some Mexican border authorities are saying what's equally important is a new spirit of neighborliness. Chihuahua Sen. Jeffrey Jones, of the National Action Party (PAN), said communication among lawmakers on either side of the border is still lagging behind growing cultural and economic ties. He'd like to see lawmakers meet on a more regular basis to discuss border issues and be given some kind of fast-track authority to make improvements in their respective communities. That was the gist of a chat that Jones had in January with U.S. lawmakers from border-states. He said all were in agreement that post-Sept. 11 security concerns could be turned into an advantage to the border region by focusing "all the reflectors toward it."

Jones would also like to see both countries share more border facilities, like customs inspection areas, to speed crossing times and cut costs. Canada and the United States are already testing a new joint facility.

"Traditionally, it's been a my side versus your side thing, but we need to move to more positive things," says Jones, "We have to work together to control the border."

Stevenson Jacobs is a freelance writer and a reporter for a Mexico City daily.