Crossing the border? Take your passport

By Thomas Frank, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Federal officials hope a new education campaign will eliminate confusion at U.S. borders this summer when Americans will be required for the first time to show a passport or a special ID card to drive home from Canada or Mexico.
Travelers will no longer be able to use ordinary driver's licenses or birth certificates to get back into the U.S.

The State Department is urging people to seek passports now to avoid a backlog of applications. The Homeland Security Department is stepping up publicity along U.S. border towns about the new policy, which aims to keep terrorists out of the country.

On June 1, U.S. citizens entering the country by land or sea will have to present a passport or government border-crossing card that shows their name and proof of citizenship. They could also use a military ID or an enhanced driver's license, which has extra security features and is only available in the states of Washington, New York, Vermont and Michigan.

Air travelers have had to show a passport to enter the U.S. from Canada or Mexico since January 2007.

"I am concerned" about possible confusion over the change, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said. "So many people live on the border and are used to crossing back and forth informally."

People trying to cross without proper documents "will be handled on a case-by-case basis," Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Kelly Ivahnenko said.

The requirement could delay the hundreds of thousands of people and billions of dollars of goods that enter the U.S. each day by land, said Sarah Hubbard, vice president of the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce.

"I don't think this change is on the radar screen of most people that will be affected," Hubbard said. About $1 billion of goods per day — largely Canadian auto parts — arrive in Detroit in trucks crossing the Ambassador Bridge from Canada, she said.

The policy, required under a 2004 law, is the final step in hardening the 163 border crossings with Canada and Mexico that Americans could once go through simply by telling a customs officer they are a U.S. citizen.

The State Department is expanding its ability to issue passports, said passport office chief Brenda Sprague. The department was overwhelmed with applications in early 2007.

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