Rienas added that the Public Border Operators Association, an organization representing those administering crossings across the northern border, lobbied against the idea as far back as 2015. Back then, the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission’s Holloway was president and expressed to Congress fears of significant costs and delays that would prove “devastating” to local economies on both sides of the border.

Reinas said the authority appreciates the opposition voiced by Reps. Chris Collins and Brian Higgins after Trump issued the order. And he noted the expensive infrastructure needed for the system could be avoided if the United States and Canada can find a way to share information and avoid new construction. But that would require an international agreement that he said is a long way off.

“The key is if the technology advances to the point where it can be done through an agreement with Canada,” he said, “where Canadian entry becomes the U.S. exit and they share that information. The problem is that nobody has been able to demonstrate how it would actually work.”

He also noted that the U.S. and Canada already share biographical information gleaned from passport scans.