EASTPORT, Maine — Ambitions of increased tourism on Maine’s most eastern tip are meeting tough realities from the federal government.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection does not have the staff to process four cruise ships from foreign ports scheduled to arrive in Eastport this season, according to correspondence between the agency and the Eastport Port Authority.
Chris Gardner, the head of the authority who received this message, says some ferry travel could be impacted as well if a solution is not reached.
"All those investments and all of those possibilities are in jeopardy," Gardner added.
Garner says he first received a letter from Nicholas Chambers, a watch commander with the CBP in the January, telling him an increase in the number of vessels "puts considerable strain on CBP, hampering the timely facilitation of lawful international trade and travel."
According to the letter, there is only one customs officer stationed in Eastport and reassigning resources from other points along the U.S. land border "does impact existing international trade and travel."
To Gardner, this leaves his office and the city in a difficult bind. "Customs says you must have customs," Gardner said. "Then customs says 'but we’re not going to provide it.'"
This comes as Eastport tries to position itself as the new prime cruise ship port north of Portland in the wake of Bar Harbor’s new cap on passengers allowed on shore at 1,000 per day.
"If the port of Eastport isn’t able to respond when the industry needs us the most, it won’t just be a loss for Eastport, but it could be a loss for the entire state of Maine," Gardner added.
As a solution to this staffing issue remains elusive, Maine lawmakers are pressing the federal government on the issue.
During a Senate hearing on the Homeland Security budget in April, Senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, asked Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to "look into the staffing issue and follow up with me to try to resolve this problem."
In the meantime, Gardner says he hopes to maintain an open dialogue with Customs and Border Protection as the season unfolds.
NEWS CENTER Maine reached out to Customs and Border Protection for this story, but the agency denied our request for comment.