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.