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  1. #1

    Join Date
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    Americans Need Passports to Re-enter US

    It's about time. A number of terrorists have been American citizens over the years.

    Quote Originally Posted by Barry Schweid, AP, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Apr 5
    Administration to tighten rules for Americans visiting Canada, 3 other countries
    WASHINGTON -- Americans will need passports to re-enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, Panama and Bermuda by 2008, part of a tightening of U.S. border controls in an era of terrorist threat, three administration officials said Tuesday. Similarly, Canadians will also have to present a passport to enter the United States, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Canadians have been the only foreigners allowed to enter the United States with just a driver's license.

    An announcement, expected later Tuesday at the State Department, will specify that a passport or another valid travel document will have to be shown by U.S. citizens, the officials said. Other documents accepted include a Sentri that is used for Mexico travel or a Nexus for Canada travel. Until now, Americans returning home from Canada have needed only to show a driver's license or other government-issued photo identification card. Americans returning from Mexico, Panama or Bermuda currently need only a government-issued photo identification card plus proof of U.S. citizenship like an original birth or naturalization certificate, according to the State Department's Web site.

    The new rules, to be phased in by Jan. 1, 2008, were called for in intelligence legislation approved last year by Congress. Safeguarding U.S. borders are a top concern of U.S. intelligence and security officials. The concern increased after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and on the Pentagon. The travel industry has raised concerns that the changes might hamper tourism, one official said. The announcement follows a three-way summit last month that President Bush held with Prime Minister Paul Martin of Canada and President Vicente Fox of Mexico.

    Speaking at Baylor University in Waco, Bush said border controls with Mexico had to be tightened to make sure that terrorists, drug runners, gun runners and smugglers do not enter the United States. Besides a passport, re-entering Americans could use another approved travel document like frequent travel cards, which are issued to some people who travel often between the U.S. and Mexico. These cards typically are used to avoid long border-crossing lines. But in most cases, only passports will do, another U.S. official said. The new system will deal first with the Caribbean, then Mexico and Canada. It will start at airports and subsequently spread to land crossings, said an official speaking on condition of anonymity.

    U.S. inspectors will bear less of a burden with the changes because they won't have to sift through different kinds of travel documents, the officials said. Passports Required
    Associated Press reporters George Gedda and Lara Jakes Jordan contributed to this report.
    '58 Airedale

  2. #2

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    And so those who care not for our security now complain about this very small requirement. And to Sir Digby Jones, passports with biometric information are small problems compared to thousands dead and hundreds of billions of dollars in lost commerce for not having the information and not sealing our borders. And the penalty to foreigners for not having biometric information: get a visa! My goodness Sir Digby, that is a serious problem. My, my, my.

    Quote Originally Posted by Andrew Ward, Financial Times, New Zealand, Apr 5
    New US passport rules 'threaten business relations'
    Transatlantic business relations risk being strained and billions of dollars of tourism revenue squandered unless the US delays tough new entry requirements to be introduced this year, a UK business leader has warned. Sir Digby Jones, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, said US demands for visitors to hold passports containing biometric information would cause “enormous problems� for UK business.

    The UK is one of several countries expected to miss an October 26 deadline to start issuing the high-tech passports, which include a digital photo embedded with a chip. Only six European countries Belgium, Germany, Austria, Finland, Sweden and Luxembourg are expected to meet the deadline. People with passports issued after the deadline without biometric features will need a visa to enter the US. The measures, designed to increase US security following the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks, affect 27 countries whose citizens are currently allowed to enter the US without visas, including most of Europe and Japan.

    Addressing a conference in Washington on Tuesday, Sir Digby accused Congress of squandering goodwill towards the US and failing to understand the realities of global business. “Applications for US visas can take up to three weeks but global business just doesn't work in these old-style timeframes,� he said. “Vital meetings will simply not be possible without the freedom to enter the US without a visa.� However, the spokesman for one of the legislators responsible for the rules accused critics of spreading “misinformation� and said the changes would affect relatively few visitors. “Many people believe that after the deadline all European citizens entering the US will be required to have biometric passports but that is simply not the case,� said Jeff Lungren, spokesman for James Sensenbrenner, chairman of the House judiciary committee.

    The new rules apply only to new passports issued after October 26, meaning that people with documents issued before the deadline will still be able to enter the US without a visa or biometric information. Sir Digby called for a further six-month extension to the deadline, which has already been postponed by a year. But Mr Sensenbrenner wrote to the European Commission last week that another delay was “highly unlikely�.

    Mr Lungren suggested that Europeans whose passports expire in the next few months could avoid problems by renewing their document before October 26. More than 4.5m British passport holders visit the US each year, spending nearly $7bn while they are there. Passports Harm Business
    '58 Airedale

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