New passport rules make Amerika a bigger better police state

A bigger better police state to protect the government from YOU!!!

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Passport changes go into effect

Ginger Richardson and Stephanie Paterik
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 23, 2007 12:00 AM

Planning on leaving the country? Make sure you take your passport to the airport.

Starting today, all passengers traveling by plane will be required to present the document when they leave or re-enter the United States.

The new, more stringent travel rules are even required for U.S. citizens who traditionally have been able to travel to Canada, Mexico and parts of the Caribbean with little more than a birth certificate.

Non-U.S. residents who don't have proper documentation could be refused entry into the country, and Americans traveling without a passport will be detained until they can sufficiently prove their citizenship, said Brian Levin, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Tucson.

Congress mandated the new security measure in 2004.

More changes are coming. By June 2009, the passport rule will also apply to those crossing U.S. borders by land and sea.

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Passport rules are flexible - for now

Stephanie Paterik, Emily Seftel and Scott Craven
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 26, 2007 12:00 AM

The United States' new passport requirement is in full effect, but the rule has proved less cut and dried than Americans expected.

Airlines say they have turned away few passengers since Tuesday, when they had to start checking passports for all international flights including Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean.

That is partly because travelers who don't have a passport are being allowed to fly anyway with proof of U.S. citizenship, namely a birth certificate and an additional layer of screening.

"We don't want to suddenly slam the door," said Brian Levin, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Tucson. "We're not going to stop a U.S. citizen from coming into their own country."

Congress mandated that everyone entering the country carry a passport, the most reliable proof of citizenship.

The law went into effect this week for air travel, and passports will be required for land and sea travel within the next couple of years.

So far, the new ruling has proved a hassle but not a complete roadblock to travel for passengers without passports.

Customs and Border Protection is pulling aside travelers without passports, making them prove citizenship and handing them passport applications. Some people may need to ask loved ones to fax a birth certificate to the airport, Levin said.

The process is certainly a time-consuming hassle, and there are no guarantees of boarding an international flight without a passport. But it means that when there is a will to travel, there often is a way.

Arizona travel agencies and passport processors report that savvy travelers are ordering expedited passports so they don't have to cancel their trips or endure extra security.

"People are confident they can get expedited passports and get them in time," said Jennifer Danvers, operations manager for Camelback Odyssey Travel in Phoenix. "No one has canceled or postponed a trip because of passports. People are catching on pretty quickly."

Another point of confusion is whether travelers need a passport to leave the country, to return or both.

Although the law bans people only from entering the United States, in reality, Americans traveling round-trip won't get off the ground without the proper documentation.

That is because airlines can be fined for carrying passengers without a passport. To avoid that penalty, they are cracking down on travelers the moment they check in, before their trip begins.

Tempe-based US Airways spokeswoman Valerie Wunder said few, if any, travelers are "having issues."

"This is a phased approach to compliance," she said.

"If you still don't have a passport, we're still letting you travel on a birth certificate. Eventually, you are going to need a passport to go as well as come back."

Customs and Border Protection is keeping track of how many people show up to the airport without a passport but said the numbers were not available Thursday.

When the numbers show that most people are complying, airlines and customs agents will be stricter, Wunder said.

The Arizona Office of Tourism said the passport requirement for air travel will not affect the state's tourism. Most Mexicans carry passports when they travel here, anyway.

Mexico tourism worries

But it is a different story in Mexico, where tourism officials predict 400,000 people will be deterred from visiting, said Carlos Flores Vizcarra, consul general of Mexico overseeing Arizona.

"Some Americans have not had a passport in 40 years. Now . . . it is indispensable," he said. "We think that is going to have an impact on Mexico tourism that is considered negative."

Inexperienced travelers are likely to be affected, said David Holladay, a tour guide from Utah on his way to Mexico. Holladay, a frequent overseas traveler, thinks the regulations will be a deterrent.

"It'll affect the casual traveler if you have to get a passport first," he said.

"A lot of people won't get it, or won't know how to get it. I've talked to a lot of people, and the official part of it seems scary."

At the airport Thursday afternoon, the scene was calm at the international departures area around US Airways and AeroMexico.

For frequent international travelers, the new passport regulations barely registered as a blip on their travel radar.

Albert Bernal of Phoenix, who was traveling to Costa Rica with his family, has held a passport for three years and said that he hadn't paid attention to the new requirements.

'World has changed'

Nancy Wolfe, chief executive officer of Sundance Travel in Phoenix, for years has urged her clients to obtain passports whether or not they planned to travel outside the United States. Many have followed her advice.

"It's a really important form of identification," Wolfe said. "Everyone we deal with is very understanding (of the new passport requirements). The world has changed since 9/11. We need to know who is coming and going in this country."

Even those who plan on driving across the border or taking a cruise, for which passports are not yet required, should have such identification, said Lilian Wiedmaier, a travel agent for A World of Travel in Phoenix.

"If something happens or you get sick or injured and you need to fly back to the U.S., you're going to need a passport even if you drove across the border," Wiedmaier said.

"Everyone is going to need a passport sooner or later. People need to be prepared for anything."

Getting over the border

Worried about the new passport law? Here is what has been happening this week when Americans embark on a round-trip international flight from the United States, including to Canada and Mexico.

Step 1: When travelers book their flights, most airlines remind them to bring a passport.

Step 2: Upon check-in, the airline will ask to see a passport for all travelers, including children.

Step 3: Those with a passport may be asked to show it again at the security checkpoint and the departure gate.

Step 4: Those without a passport will be asked to prove their U.S. citizenship with a certified copy of their birth certificate. They will be detained unless they can produce it.

Step 5: When returning to the United States, travelers without a passport will be pulled aside by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Officers will ask those travelers for documents that prove citizenship, subject them to an extra layer of screening and hand them a passport application so the next trip is smoother.

Reach the reporter at stephanie.paterik@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-7343.

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Few glitches reported as new passport rules take effect

Associated Press
Jan. 23, 2007 02:15 PM

ATLANTA - A new rule requiring U.S. airline passengers to show a passport upon their return from Mexico, Canada or the Caribbean took effect Tuesday, with few reports of stranded travelers.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest, reported no problems by midday. "I think we're looking at 100 percent compliance," said Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Susan Shattuck.

Most travelers who forgot about the new requirement were allowed to enter after receiving a warning and a passport application. But their names were entered into the agency's computer system, and they will be scrutinized if it happens again.

"Nobody's being turned away," said Roxanne Hercules, an agency spokesman in Northern California. "These are mostly U.S. citizens coming home from traveling. We just are trying to inform them of the new rules."

Only about a quarter of U.S. citizens hold valid passports, and most Americans were accustomed to traveling to neighboring countries with just a driver's license or birth certificate, which have long been sufficient to get through airport customs on the trip home.

At Miami International Airport, a 7-year-old boy and a 2-year-old boy traveling with family from the Caribbean did not have passports.

"He had a pacifier but no passport," Customs and Border Protection spokesman Zachary Mann said of the toddler. Both boys were let into the country after officers explained the new rules to their relatives.

At Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, some Canadians arriving from Toronto had no quibble with the new requirement. "It makes sense," Shawn Palmer said. "I guess it makes a little more secure for getting across."

Travel agents and airlines reported no major problems after warning travelers about the new rule for more than a year.

"So far, all is quiet on our front," said Kathy Gerhardt, spokeswoman for Carlson Wagonlit Travel.

The new regulations were adopted by Congress in 2004 to secure the borders against terrorists.

The only valid substitutes for a passport will be a NEXUS Air card, used by some American and Canadian frequent fliers; identification as a U.S. Coast Guard merchant mariner; and the green card carried by legal permanent residents. Active members of the U.S. military are exempt.