Despite feds' pleas, Perry fails to OK ID program
By Brandi Grissom / Austin Bureau
Article Launched: 01/21/2008 12:00:00 AM MST


AUSTIN -- Gov. Rick Perry's continued stalling of a program that would allow Texas border crossers to return from Mexico with a quick swipe of their driver's license has had federal officials frustrated and calling for political help to broker a solution.
E-mails the El Paso Times obtained under Texas open records laws show that U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials for months have been asking Perry to sign an agreement that would allow the state to implement enhanced driver's licenses.

"The Department feels strongly that providing our citizens with secure documents for cross border travel in a familiar format is one of the best options we have," Kathleen Kraninger, director of screening coordination at DHS, wrote in an October e-mail to Perry's staff.

Perry spokesman Robert Black said Texas is close to reaching an agreement with DHS but that doesn't mean the license program will get under way.

Perry still has concerns about investing in the program, Black said. He wants assurances that DHS will not change its mind later about the program and that it will not be duplicating federal efforts, such as the U.S. Passport Card, which will be available this spring.

"We're going to do our due diligence and take whatever time is necessary to ensure we're doing the right thing for the taxpayers of Texas," Black said.

Last year, state lawmakers approved a pilot project for the enhanced driver's license program, anticipating that new federal identification requirements

at border crossings could have dramatic impact on lines at border ports. The program would allow the Texas Department of Public Safety to create driver's licenses that store citizenship information inside on a small chip that would transmit the data to U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at ports of entry.
The state of Washington will be the first state to use the licenses and is set to launch the program today for those going to and from Canada. New York, Vermont and Arizona have signed agreements with DHS but have not yet started using enhanced licences.

Perry has ordered the Department of Public Safety not to implement the program in Texas until the state attorney general issues a ruling on whether the new licenses would meet federal guidelines.

That decision seems to have confounded DHS officials, the ones who created border crossing guidelines and who are promoting the new licenses as a quick, secure way to find out who is crossing into the U.S.

"Only thing I can't understand is why (DPS) has to wait for a Texas AG opinion on a federal law that DHS has already addressed," Kraninger wrote in a December e-mail.

Since last summer, DHS officials have met with Perry's staff, called on U.S. Sen. John Cornyn to apply political pressure and offered to have DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff fly to Texas to work out an agreement.

A DHS attorney wrote Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott a letter in September assuring him that enhanced driver's licenses meet federal identification requirements.

"We've certainly tried to do everything we can to assure the state we're committed to this," Kraninger said in a telephone interview Friday.

And, she said, the U.S. State Department's Passport Card, a smaller version of a passport that could be used only at land ports of entry is a different option for border crossers to use that would be similar to enhanced driver's licenses.

Unlike licences, though, the card would be available for those who cannot drive.

Still, there is no ruling from Abbott and no agreement to start the program even as new identification requirements are set to take effect Jan. 31 and border residents fear longer lines at already overburdened land ports. Under the new rules, travelers returning to the U.S. will have to show either a passport or a driver's license along with proof of citizenship, like a birth certificate.

"That would be much better to implement technology like that rather than ask people to present birth certificates," said El Paso Mayor John Cook.

Cook and other border political and business leaders in the Texas Border Coalition have also been pushing Perry to move forward with enhanced driver's licenses.

Monica Weisberg-Stewart, head of the coalition's immigration committee, said technological solutions that allow quicker crossing are imperative to keeping economies vibrant in border communities. The coalition, she said, has asked Texas congressmen and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison to step in and help broker a deal between Perry and DHS.

"When DHS tells us they have the technology for it, well, wow, what are we waiting for?" she asked.

State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, who wrote the legislation creating the enhanced driver's license pilot project for Texas, said the documents would be cheaper than a passport but still allow secure and fast crossings.

Delays at the bridges, he said, are not only costly to border business but also create more pollution as cars idle for hours in line.

"I have no idea why Rick Perry would stop this in a state that has more of the border than any other state," Shapleigh said. "We have more to gain and more to lose."

Perry does want quicker, more secure border crossings in Texas, spokesman Black said. But he also wants to ensure that any state investment in an enhanced driver's license program is worthwhile.

"The goal," Black said, "is to get it right rather than to get it fast."

Brandi Grissom may be reached at bgrissom@elpasotimes.com;512-479-6606.






Passport cards
Questions, answers on Passport Cards

Question: Where can Passport Cards be used?
Answer: They can be used at any U.S. land or sea port of entry between Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. They cannot be used for air travel.

Question: How much will a Passport Card cost?
Answer: For adults who already have a passport book, they may apply for the card as a passport renewal and pay only $20. First-time applicants will pay $45 for adult cards and $35 for children.

Question: How does one get a Passport Card?
Answer: The U.S. State Department will begin accepting applications for the new Passport Card beginning Feb. 1. The departments expects to mail the cards this spring.

Question: Who can use Passport Cards?
Answer: U.S. citizens
Source: U.S. State Department Web site: http://travel.state.gov/passport/ppt_ca ... _3926.html



By the numbers
2006 border crossings at Texas land ports of entry:
CityCrossings
El Paso28,608,705
Brownsville14,171,099
Laredo14,107,583
Hidalgo12,953,555
Eagle Pass8,517,673
Del Rio4,032,369
Roma2,850,783
Progreso2,413,725
Rio Grande City2,216,312
Presidio1,630,347
Fabens1,242,617
Source: Office of Gov. Rick Perry.



Enhanced license
Questions, answers on enhanced licenses

Question: Where can enhanced driver's licenses be used?
Answer: They can be used at any U.S. land or sea port of entry between Canada and Mexico.

Q: How much would an enhanced driver's license cost?
A: The licenses would cost $40, about $16 more than it costs to renew a regular driver's license.

Q: How does one get an enhanced driver's license?
A: The licenses aren't available in Texas yet, but if the program is implemented, the Texas Department of Public Safety will issue the licenses.

Q: Who can use an enhanced driver's license?
A: Only U.S. citizens

Q: Would regular driver's licenses still be available?
A: Yes, the enhanced driver's licenses would be optional.
Source: El Paso Times research



New rules
Rules for re-entering the United States as of Jan. 31:

U.S. citizens must show a U.S. passport, or a driver's license and a birth certificate, or a driver's license and a certificate of naturalization.

Dedicated Commuter Lane passes can be used in lieu of passports.

Members of the military follow the same rules as civilians.

Children younger than 18 need to show only a birth certificate.

Nothing changes for non-U.S. citizens, who continue to show their visas.
Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

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