You'd Better Start Carrying Your Passport

[babylonsister]

I have no idea why he finds this impressive? My advice for any foreigners is to stay the hell out of this country. It isn't safe, and it breaks my heart to type that.

https://digbysblog.net/2025/07/04/youd-better-start-carrying-your-passport/

You’d Better Start Carrying Your Passport
Published by digby on July 4, 2025



How else will they be able to enforce new rules like this?

President Trump signed an executive order Thursday calling on the national park system to charge higher entry fees for foreign visitors.

It instructs Interior Secretary Doug Burgum — who oversees the National Park Service — to “develop a strategy” to hike entrance fees and recreation pass fees for non-U.S. residents at any national park that currently charges for entry.

“To fund improvements and enhanced experiences across the park system, I’ve just signed an executive order to raise entrance fees for foreign tourists while keeping prices low for Americans,” Mr. Trump said in a Thursday evening rally in Iowa. “The national parks will be about America first.”

He really wants to cripple tourism in this country, doesn’t he?

[Morbius]

1. Well, you know how it is.

If it ain't broke, it will be soon enough.

[peacebuzzard]

2. I don't recommend carrying your only passport; it may get confiscated.

by the idiots on patrol.
I do recommend obtaining the pocket version of your passport which is the size of a driver's license as backup.
And, then, carrying one of them with you.
Make sure you always have a photocopy stored somewhere safe.

[Tadpole Raisin]

6. Great point!

[dwayneb]

9. News to me

Didn't know you could have a second passport. How do you get this small version?

[Phoenix61]

12. I didn't know that either until Paul Manafort.

Apparently some countries require you to give them your passport when you apply for a visa. They give it back with your visa but for the time they have you don’t. Indonesia requires your passport when you apply to extend your visa.

[MLWR]

14. It's called a passport card.

You apply for it just like a passport and you pay an extra fee for it. It cannot be used to travel to most foreign countries, but the bar code reveals the same information as your passport. You used to be able to use it for entry into Mexico and Canada, but now, who knows? It also used to be valid for cruises to those countries...

[iluvtennis]

30. I got the both the book and the passport card when I renewed my passport earlier this year.

Passport Card and Book
The U.S. passport card is a wallet-sized, plastic passport that has no visa pages. The card is proof of U.S. citizenship and identity, and has the same length of validity as the passport book.

The card is for U.S. citizens who travel by land and sea from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and some Caribbean countries.

The card is not valid for international travel by air and is cheaper than the passport book.

You can apply for either the book or card, or both documents.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/card.html

[peacebuzzard]

40. through the U.S. passport office. I am going to order mine

because this post hit home for me. I am a dual national who was born in an unrelated country to my 2 nationalities.

[sir pball]

42. The "pocket passport" referenced is the Passport Card

It's pretty easy to get; you can just check a box and pay extra when you apply/renew a regular passport or apply separately and just send in your normal passport for verification, no other hoops required.

Getting a second actual passport booklet is a lot more difficult, you have to have a specific, limited reason and it's not quite a full-fat ten-year document. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/have-passport/second-passport-book.html

[Lonestarblue]

11. How do you obtain the pocket version of a passport? Is this the card rather than the book?

[paleotn]

31. Drivers license size card...

Valid when crossing into Canada or Mexico from the US. We call them our "Canada Cards."

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/card.html

[Lonestarblue]

39. Thank you!

[peacebuzzard]

41. yes, when you apply you have options

on type of passport (for international, the large version is what is required in most countries) and the small driver's license size.
convenient for proof of citizenship.

[hlthe2b]

13. Exactly. Secure it where family members (and your lawyer if you have one) can get to it...

Even if you are a citizen. Even if you are not among those currently targeted.

And, if you don't have a passport, FIND your official certified birth certificate (or make arrangements to get one asap) from the city/county in which you were born. You might even want to request and pay for two copies so that the one you might wish to use to GET a passport won't be "misplaced."

[yellowdogintexas]

32. Definitely get two copies !!! I somehow misplaced my copy between 1983

when I got a passport and 2012 when I needed a new one. So when I had to replace it I ordered two for all of us, from three different states.

Note to self: renew passport and get the card too.

[peacebuzzard]

36. great advice.

you never know who knows which verson of the rules. Way too many iffs these days.

[aggiesal]

19. It's called a Passport card and it's the size of a regular Driver's license ...

I started carrying my Passport card with my driver's license every where I go.
I never used to do that.

[AllyCat]

23. I have a copy stored, but never thought I needed a card

Will order.

[peacebuzzard]

35. a safely stored copy of the passport is great to have.

you can always apply for a new one. Unless you can't....when and if it gets confiscated.
We are living in a grey area.

[Haggard Celine]

3. "The national parks will be about America first."

As if this is about helping the common people and not about being nasty to non-citizens. Why can't people see this shit for what it is?

[CapnSteve]

20. We just returned from eight days at the Grand Canyon...

We were there, among other things, to attend Star Party 2025 - Google it, it is awesome, but I digress - using my Lifetime Senior Pass for the first time.

It was amazing all around, but it was delightful meeting and talking to people from all over the world. In particular, we shared a table (and ice cream) with a Ukrainian family who relocated to Colorado to save themselves from the Russian waged war there. We stood together at the canyon’s edge in awe of its natural beauty.

Slava Ukraine and Midterm Accountability!

[Vinca]

4. They should be watching traffic cams on the US/Canada bridges and entry points.

Lots of people leaving the US, very few coming in. It's as if they've got a plan to kill the tourism industry.

[mgardener]

33. Traffic from Canada is down

30% at the Champlain, NY entry.
Has been a consistent decrease since April.

[gab13by13]

5. When I traveled I carried copies of my passport when I went out, my passport was in the hotel safe.

Get real ID, it "should" be enough ID. One needs birth certificate, Social Security Card, 2 proofs of residence, and women need marriage certificate for name change to get one.

[AllyCat]

24. We recently traveled in the Netherlands and our BandB

Did not have a safe. Had to carry our physical passports everywhere and left the copy at the lodging. Came in handy when we were driving to get dinner in Germany and there was a checkpoint. We were stunned.

A day earlier we had pedaled right into Germany on the bike trail and never gave it a moment’s consideration.

[DownriverDem]

7. I already have

I don't yet have the Real ID driver's license. My current license doesn't expire until 2026. I plan on getting it next year. I have no plans to fly either. So I started carrying my passport since all the ICE raids started.

[Norbert]

8. This isn't the same country my dad proudly fought for in World War II

My dad was a proud Kennedy Democrat and he would be pissed beyond belief.

Sorry dad.

[TnDem]

10. Side note on photo

As a student of history, I can note that the Nazis shown in that photo are from early in the war...Probably 1934-1938 or so.

They are wearing a "Reichswehr" style helmet with the old style lugs. These were repurposed WW1 helmets before the M38, M40 and then the later M42 style helmets.

They are also German "Police", or "Ordnungspolizei", and not army or Wehrmacht or SS...You can tell this by the style of German eagle on the left side of the helmet of the guy on the far right of the pic.

[GiqueCee]

16. Now, that's what I call...

... research on a granular level! Very cool.

[TnDem]

18. Absolutely

Many times if you know the specifics of uniforms and equipment, it can tell the context of the photo....Besides, I love photography because it captures actual moments in time... Understanding what is in the photo makes it so much more relevant.

In this photo, it is OBVIOUS the German police are definitely asking this man, (probably Jewish), for his travel papers, probably a Kennkarte with the letter "J" on the front of it.

So, whoever dug this photo out of some archive actually has THE correct photo for the context.

It is not German army or SS, but the actual day-to-day German police that would have been seen by citizens pre-1939.

[GiqueCee]

15. He wants...

Last edited Sat Jul 5, 2025, 09:13 AM - Edit history (1)

... to cripple the ENTIRE country, as vindictive payback for electing Biden instead of him. It was recently said by an individual who suffered through reading his ghost-written books, that every one of them had a chapter on revenge. If he feels maligned, even if he deserved it, he'd hit back ten times harder. And that's exactly what he's doing right now. Coincidentally, it also aligns with the mission Putin set for him: Destroy the country from within. Putin borrowed that notion from a statement by Nikita Khrushchev nearly 70 years ago, which began, "We will bury you."
And Trump is helping him make it come true. If that ain't the definition of a traitor, I don't know what is.

[tulipsandroses]

17. What a great idea from the great business man

Aside from his hate and bigotry, it should be obvious to all that this charlatan has never been a good businessman. It’s easy to see why he went bankrupt several times.
Such a brilliant way to destroy tourism. I bet his idiot followers cheered for this.

[RedWhiteBlueIsRacist]

21. I don't have a passport, but do have access to a gun. Many Klansmen were put down by the 2A.

And ICE is just the Ku Kross Klan in military costumes.

[Girard442]

22. Not carrying my passport everwhere.

If they can detain me for not having it, I'm already imprisoned.

[travelingthrulife]

25. He's wrecking all 7 mountains for the evangelical nutcases.

They are taking over the country and making it into a theocracy.

[Fl_life]

26. Hhmmmmm....

As a camper, Ive visited quite a few of our national parks - all are filled with natural beauty and wonder - so what exactly is needed in terms of improvements and enhanced experiences across the park system?!??!??! Golf courses?? Amusement parks???

[paleotn]

28. Don't give them any ideas.

[Skittles]

43. it's more money for billionaires

repukes love their cover stories

[paleotn]

27. Idiotic and won't work. But no matter...

Foreign visits to the US have plunged anyway for obvious reasons. I've noticed Quebecois are still coming down I89 and I91 , but not in the numbers seen in the past.

We've kept our passports and "Canada Cards" handy since early 2017 just in case we need to do a quick exit.

[COL Mustard]

29. Let's cut to the chase.

White Americans will get a discount. All those other people will pay full fare. And White males will get in for free.


I prolly shouldn't give them ideas.

[eppur_se_muova]

34. Look for the "servants entrance" signs to come soon. nt

[UTUSN]

37. Modified to: "wants to cripple THIS COUNTRY," period.

[greatauntoftriplets]

38. I've been carrying mine since the inauguration.

It's expired because I can no longer afford to go anywhere, but it's an ID.