New U.S. Passport Regulations

[LiveFreeorDie]

FYI - if you haven't heard.

Americans returning from trips to Canada, Mexico and elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere will be required to start showing a passport at borders and airports, under rules proposed by U.S. officials.
The latest step in the effort to tighten security at U.S. borders is the most sweeping to date, by requiring millions of people to obtain passports or new types of traveler identification. Currently, U.S. citizens returning from Mexico, Bermuda, or Panama don't need a passport to re-enter the U.S. Instead, they must present government-issued photo identification, such as driver's license, plus proof of citizenship, like a birth certificate, according to the State Department. Americans crossing the border from Canada have needed to show only a driver's license or other government-issued photo identification.
The initiative, announced yesterday by the State Department and homeland-security officials, will also require foreigners from Canada, Bermuda and Mexico to show passports when entering the U.S. Under the current rules, they must show one of several types of government-issued ID, but not necessarily a passport.
The move is part of a broad U.S. policy to toughen border security, an effort that has drawn sharp criticism from abroad -- for instance, last year when plans were announced to toughen visa requirements. Meanwhile, tourism officials fret that stricter entry rules could deter travel outside the U.S., and some officials say it could have a negative effect on local economies on both sides of the border.
Officials said the rules should reduce the market in stolen travel documents and drastically cut the number of people entering the U.S. with forged or stolen driver's licenses. The rules effectively mean that border crossings to or from Canada and Mexico would now be treated just like travel to or from other countries.
The rules aren't final, and are still open to a 60-day review period, after which the program is slated to be fully phased in by Dec. 31, 2007. The rules primarily will affect the hundreds of thousands of Americans, Canadians and Mexicans who cross the border each day. Approximately 1.2 million people enter the U.S. daily, roughly three-quarters by land, and the rest by plane or ship.
Some travel professionals say the new regulations could curtail tourism to nearby destinations abroad, which remained among the most steady through the recent travel downturn. After the 2001 terror attacks, travelers found cruises particularly appealing, in large part because of the relatively low cost, the proximity to home, and the fact that the cruise line typically handles much of the security paperwork on behalf of travelers, eliminating a travel hassle.
Roughly 60 million Americans have passports, which can cost about $100 to get. Last year, the government issued 8.8 million passports, a number expected to hit 10.5 million this year. In part due to the proposed border rules, the State Department expects the demand for new passports will double over last year, to 17 million, by 2008.
There will likely be, however, an exception made for a relatively small group of frequent travelers across the Mexican or Canadian border, who may for example live in one country and work in the other. Under the proposal, they will be able to go through a special registration process and receive a frequent-traveler's ID.
To meet increased passport demand, the State Department plans to add 500 workers this year to the 1,100 who now staff the country's 16 passport centers. In addition, there are roughly 6,000 so-called passport-acceptance areas in the U.S., mainly in post offices and libraries.
Under the proposed rollout for the rules, travelers by air or sea to and from the Caribbean, Bermuda, and Central and South America will be required to present passports by the end of this year. Those arriving by air or sea to and from Canada and Mexico will have to do so by the end of 2006. By Dec. 31, 2007, the requirement will include those crossing borders by land, the largest group of travelers.
In Windsor, Ontario, across the border from Detroit, Mayor Eddie Francis expressed concern about the rules' impact on the local economy. "We're still dealing with the effects of 2001," he said, noting that personal vehicle travel was down 11.5% since then. Mr. Francis said that crossing the border is "a way of life" in the city, with more than 5,000 Canadians commuting into the U.S. each day. "That's never been viewed as traveling to another country," he said. "We need to realize that not all Americans and not all Canadians carry passports."
Along the Mexican border, news of the passport rule was met with worries of the economic impact. Mayor Eddie Trevino Jr. of Brownsville, Texas, worried that the requirement could impede the free flow of trade between his city and Matamoros, the city across the border. The two are economically intertwined with tens of thousands of tourists, shoppers and business people crisscrossing the border every month.
"We certainly understand any precautions the government needs to take to secure our borders. We just don't want to do that at the expense of our economic viability," Mr. Trevino said -- who himself doesn't have a passport. "I've never gotten one. I've never had to," he said.
The new plan was mandated by the 2004 intelligence reform law that grew out of the U.S. review of the 2001 attacks. The proposal is open for public comments from businesses and groups likely to be affected by the changes for 60 days. "We are of an open mind still," said Maura Hartly, assistant secretary of state for consular affairs.
Christiana Halsey, a deputy assistant commissioner with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service, said the rules should simplify border crossings because once the rules are in place, all agents will be examining the same form of ID. She said it's unclear, though, whether agents will simply examine the passports of people crossing the border or take the extra time to electronically scan each of them, as is now the case at most airports.

[urOZm8]

Revenue raiser! Anyway too bad for those who don't have passports, live on a border and are always crossing it.

I agree it's going to decrease tourism.

ev

[TimmyJames1976]

Geez....and new passports are going to have microchips in them....scary....I am starting to feel like a prisoner in my own country

[voyd]

Originally posted by TimmyJames1976@Apr 6 2005, 07:45 AM
Geez....and new passports are going to have microchips in them....scary....I am starting to feel like a prisoner in my own country

Yup, that's right. Basically, so they can be checked from a distance like a passkey. Problem is, I'm willing to bet they could also use it to track your @ss from a very looong distance like lo-jack or GPS if they wanted to. Well, fvck that Big Bro prison state!

Fortunately, I just got my new passport recently sans mark of the beast. Good for 10 more years, now. I suggest everyone else get new ones now before they all get the chip.

[agriadam]

I just put a new app in for one last week.

That does suck about not being able to go to Canada without a passport anymore. I remember going up there two three times a year when i was 19-20 just so that I could drink. Now all the kids are going to have to pay 97$ and wait 6 week if they want to go up their... what is this country coming to?

[TimmyJames1976]

Originally posted by voyd+Apr 6 2005, 08:18 AM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(voyd @ Apr 6 2005, 08:18 AM)</div>

Yup, that's right. Basically, so they can be checked from a distance like a passkey. Problem is, I'm willing to bet they could also use it to track your @ss from a very looong distance like lo-jack or GPS if they wanted to. Well, fvck that Big Bro prison state!

Fortunately, I just got my new passport recently sans mark of the beast. Good for 10 more years, now. I suggest everyone else get new ones now before they all get the chip. [/b]

yeah, just got mine too, before the microchip crap, now they will just stick a chip in my ass in a year or two

[agriadam]

Originally posted by TimmyJames1976@Apr 6 2005, 10:39 AM
yeah, just got mine too, before the microchip crap, now they will just stick a chip in my ass in a year or two

I think the chip will actually be in your brain that way they will be able to control you as well. that's why I am moving to anararctica... their is no government to tell me what to do. HA

[afterlife3]

One good thing about the chip, is that if your passport is stolen you should be able to find it.

[omisan]

Although my quasi-libertarian instinct would normally make me say, "What the hell for!?" I think this passport thing is a good idea - For once, it shows consistency in policy, rather than "you don't have to do this, but YOU do, blah blah blah." I don't see why I would need to have a passport coming back from the UK but not need one coming back from Canada or Mexico. International travel is international travel, after all.

I found interesting that when returning to Florida from a Caribbean cruise (which included 4 foreign countries), I wasn't asked to present my passport, nor did the customs folks scrutinize my stuff (even though I was well over the duty-free limit on booze). Not that I minded being able to breeze through the port, but you'd think that in this day and age of Homeland Insecurity, passport control policy would be applied with just a bit more consistency.

In regards to the RF chips in passports - I think it's a stupid idea. First of all, it leaves whatever data that's on the chips available to anyone with technical know-how, kind of like Bluetooth sniping. For those of you who don't like it, renew your passport before they start chipping them - US passports are good for 10 years, so at least you can buy some time before you're tagged like cattle.

[bluepea]

I only have six years left on mine. Between like a month ago and a few days ago they raised the price of the passport to a total of 97$. Jake should have applied for his a couple months ago - would have save 12 bones. Bastards.

[TheJake]

I agree with omisan. I never understood why the borders were open like that. Yeah it promotes tourism in mexico but the tourists are morons. I think requiring passports will see a bigger boost in world tourism over all. If they have to get a passport anyway might as well go further away right?

[LiveFreeorDie]

I agree consistency is good. The only thing is that I do agree with special exmptions for certain people that cross the border every day to work. I was at the border of El Paso Texas/Juarez Mexico a few years ago and the parade of people coming from Mexico each morning into the u.s. was unbeleivable. Thousands of people.

It could definately dampen the casual tourist who wants to hop into Canada or the U.S. for a night or a weekend if they do not have a passport...whether that is a huge number of people or not though, I kind of doubt it. I know lots of people in my area like to go to Montreal for bachelor parties and the like, and I bet that will decrease significantly if you have to get $100 passport to do that. I know a lot of people who do not have a passport (sad, but true). Anyway.....not a big deal to me.

[Sijuki]

I have to disagree... I have never seen going to Canada as international travel... Going to Ohio is more of international travel than Canada. 8 miles across a bridge and $3.75 later bam I am in Canada... I get more shit for having a U.S. Passport coming into the U.S. then any one of my friends that use a birth certificate. Lines are long enough and it already takes 45 minutes to get through the border... to require passports and stricter regulation will easily double that. Current usage pretty much allows you to roam freely across. Canadians get easy entry into the U.S. and U.S. citizens get easy entry into Canada, its getting back into your home country that can take some time.

I can't speak at all about border crossings into Mexico but I know at least here in Michigan traveling over into Ontario is nothing more then going to another state. Being U.S. citizens, carrying to peices of I.D. in a vehicle plated and registered to one of the occupants should be pretty viable data that you belong in the U.S. Requiring use of a passport does nothing more than create more required spending and longer delays crossing the border. Why are we looking to seclude ourselves from the world? If I can be a French citizen and travel all across Europe through several countries with absolutely no issue, why is it such a deal to have to go from the U.S. to Canada and vice versa?

Might as well put up border crossing for every state... just to be safe.

[agriadam]

^Wow

[TheJake]

SOOO many people dont have passports and get this HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO GET ONE.

dumbass americans

[agriadam]

Actually they are really hard to come by. They make you jump through all these hoops, like getting a picture.... and uh... filling out an application.... oh yeah and giving them money, than waiting by the mailbox....





Did I lay the sarcasm on to thick??

[TheJake]

yeah man. I've had four friends in the last year ask me how to get a passport. I told them. They couldnt figure it out. I printed off the apps for them. They couldnt figure it out. I took them to walgreens to get photos. They couldnt figure it out. I pointed them to the post office with their photos and apps. They never made it there. I found new friends.


freakin morons I don't know whats worse. How idiotic they are or that I was a friend to them for so long

[space virgin]

^ Well, Jake, look at it this way: It's probably better that they're not out in "circulation" representing US travelers.

[space virgin]

Er, travelers from the US, that is.

[elfmaiden]

I think it's silly to need a passport for people of either country to run back 'n forth. Lots of people just cross the border for shopping or little day trips and it's kinda annoying to drop $87 canadian (Our passports are only good for 5 years and will soon be microchipped too) just to shop or visit. Bleh.

Part of the annoyance is needing a passport if you stop over in the states on your way to a place in the carribean. Even if you don't need a passport there! My passport has already been applied for so hopefully I'll get it soon. I feel bad for my sister who has no dough and has an American BF.

Jenn