Thread: MEXICANS SAY NEW PASSPORT RULES MAY LEAD TO FEWER VISITORS

REGION: Mexican officials say new passport rules may lead to fewer visitors

By EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer

Sunday, April 26, 2009 6:32 PM PDT


Mexican merchants who cater to Americans say they worry that new rules requiring Americans to have passports will lead to fewer visitors south of the border.

"I think this is going to affect tourism very much," said Hugo Torres, the mayor of Rosarito Beach, a popular beachside resort town about 20 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Torres, who also owns the historic Rosarito Beach Hotel, and others say many visitors are day-trippers who decide on a whim to go for the day to dine and shop.

Merchants in Mexico already have been hammered by the U.S.'s sagging economy, the ongoing and increasingly bloody drug war and the hours-long border waits, all of which have contributed to fewer visitors traveling to the area.

Torres said his city experienced a 50 percent drop over last year in visitors during the usually busy Spring Break period earlier this month. He attributed much of the slide on media depictions of the area's drug violence, which has claimed hundreds of lives over the last year.

Federal travel warnings about the violence did not help matters, Torres said. The mayor and U.S. officials say tourists are not the targets of the cartels.

NORTH COUNTY TIMES

REGION: New passport rules coming in June

Adults will need a passport to cross border to Canada, Mexico


By EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer

Sunday, April 26, 2009 7:42 PM PDT

It won't be quite as easy to travel by car to Mexico or Canada beginning June 1.

On that date, all adult U.S. citizens will need a passport to cross the border, U.S. officials say.

Children 16 years old and younger will still be able to use their U.S. birth certificates as proof of citizenship.

Officials say getting Americans to use passports will improve border security.

The requirement is part of a 2004 law passed by Congress called the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.

"We are going to know who is coming into our country and it's going to be faster," said Angelica De Cima, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in San Diego.

U.S. citizens now can cross the border using a birth certificate coupled with a government-issued identity card that has a photo, such as a driver's license.

Last year, the federal government eliminated a long-standing practice of allowing U.S. citizens to declare their citizenship verbally.

Starting in January 2008, the law required Americans visiting Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Bermuda by sea or air to carry passports.

The new regulation affects Americans crossing the border by land.

Only about 28 percent of the U.S. population, or about 85 million people, had a passport as of February 2008, according to State Department statistics.

But the number of applications processed by the department has increased in recent years, from 12 million in 2006 to 18 million in 2007.

But there are holdouts, among them Maggie Gonzalez of Escondido.

She still doesn't have a passport.

"It's going to be a big problem for us," said Gonzalez, who runs a small business helping Spanish-speakers translate and fill out documents. "There are many people (who) don't have the money to pay for the passports."

Passports cost $100 per adult and $85 per child under 16 years old, plus the cost of passport photos.

It takes the U.S. State Department an average of four to six weeks to process an application.

Expedited passports cost an additional $60 and take an average of two to three weeks, according to the department's Web site.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection also offers a passport card, which is cheaper ---- $45 per adult and $35 per child ---- but it is only good for land travel, not air and sea travel abroad.

At least one prominent Democrat in Congress, Rep. Louise Slaughter of New York, and the chairwoman of the House rules committee, has suggested postponing the new rules for one year.

Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Solana Beach, who is chairman of the congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, said he does not favor extending the deadline.

The caucus is a predominantly Republican group of lawmakers that favors stricter immigration enforcement measures.

"The passport and other Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative documents are the most secure forms of identification for border crossings, land or otherwise," said Fritz Chaleff, a spokesman for the congressman.

Obama administration officials also say they oppose delaying the rules.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told business leaders at a conference in Washington, D.C, on Tuesday that travelers who plan to visit Mexico should get a passport.

"We're in the process of conducting as aggressive outreach as possible, recognizing that whenever there is a deadline, people assume that it's not really a deadline," she said. "And, quite frankly, procrastination is a very human trait. Nonetheless, the deadline is real."

Napolitano said that 80 percent of the people who regularly cross borders by car have passports or other documents that comply with the new regulation, such as frequent-traveler cards known as Nexus, Sentri and Fast.

The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative was adopted by Congress as a result of the recommendations issued by the 9/11 Commission, which investigated the 2001 terror attacks.

It was designed to "get control" of the borders by verifying the citizenship and identity of everyone entering the U.S. by land, sea or air from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.

U.S. military cards will be accepted only when traveling on official orders.

Otherwise, military personnel must carry a passport just like everyone else.

De Cima said Americans will not be denied entry if they do not carry the documents, but they may be delayed while authorities verify the individual's citizenship.

Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.

For more information, visit www.travel.state.gov.

RELATED STORY:
REGION: Mexican officials say new passport rules may lead to fewer visitors

REGION: Visiting Mexico next year will require a passport

NORTH COUNTY TIMES

Why do we need to go to Mexico when we have it right here in America?

Originally Posted by Skip

Mexican merchants who cater to Americans say they worry that new rules requiring Americans to have passports will lead to fewer visitors south of the border.

"I think this is going to affect tourism very much," said Hugo Torres, the mayor of Rosarito Beach, a popular beachside resort town about 20 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Well the Obama administration needs to change this immediately. We sure don't want out policies to affect the economy of Mexico now do we . Hey, Hugo, you think requiring Americans to carry passports will lead to fewer visitors. Wait until you feel the fall out from the swine few. No American in their right mind would want to travel to your cesspool of a country now.

Yeah, like swine flu and violence don't deter tourism.

A passport isnt going to stop an American from going to Mexico. Drug cartels and swine flu will stop them.