An amendment to return certain northern border ports of entry back to their pre-pandemic operating schedule passed the U.S. House of Representatives.

The amendment by Congressman Kelly Armstrong, R-ND, to the Homeland Security Appropriations bill was cosponsored by Reps. Michelle Fischbach (R-Minn.), Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho) and Nick Langworthy (R-NY).

For North Dakotans, the amendment would cause the Carbury, Fortuna, Madia, Neche, Noonan, Northgate, St. John, Sherwood, Walhalla, Westhope and Antler ports of entry to return to pre-pandemic operating hours, and would prevent Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from using any resources to reduce those hours again.

“Since the onset of the COVID pandemic, CBP reduced the hours of many of the ports of entry to mitigate the spread of the virus,” said Armstrong. “Though the pandemic has long been over, those shortened hours have stayed in place. Bringing these ports of entry hours back to their pre-pandemic schedule will help our border patrol respond to a massive increase in border encounters and non-marijuana drug seizures in North Dakota, Idaho, Minnesota, and Western New York. Returning the operating hours will also alleviate some of the Biden Administration’s border pressures on our northern Border Patrol.”