needing a passport to get back in to US

[sabbat hunter]

I do not see what all the hubub is about. right now if you go to a foreign country you need a passport, Drivers License or birth certificate to get back in.

they are going to change that so only a passport will be accepted. what is the big deal?

I think a lot of the people who are up in arms, don't realize that you already need to present ID to get back in to the US.

[babylonsister]

1. I think it's because many people vacation in MX, the Bahamas,

etc., and had never been required to have a passport before. Maybe the expense is bothering people.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. The fact the NEW passports have a security chip to

monitor your leaving and entering the country from neighboring countries is troubling to me. Having Washington and its agencies being able to a Lo-Jak on your whereabouts is not my idea of freedom. It's bad enough you can be traced on any interstate highway through EZ Pass and the ilk when you don't want to sit in long toll lines to pay cash to maintain your anonymity.

[Canuckistanian]

5. You think they couldn't do that before?

As soon as your name and address are entered into the old system, they know where you are.

But, remember, this is an international system. The visited country also gets that info.

It's just what that info is used for on the US domestic side that scares me.

[babylonsister]

6. Thanks. I didn't know about that security chip.

Since I have a passport I haven't been paying much attention.
I was out of town last week and did notice that foreigners entering the US now have
to provide their fingerprints; that unnerved me a bit.

[sabbat hunter]

8. actually

that is only a proposed passport. check out the US passport site it has not been implemented.

[no_hypocrisy]

14. Thanks. Not yet, at least . . . n/t

[rockymountaindem]

28. No, mine has it

Currently the US passport office in Denver is using them.

[Eurobabe]

19. I just reupped mine in April and have no security chip

But I did get the super-sized one for frequent entry and exits. LOL.

[sabbat hunter]

7. you already need

Identification to get back IN to the US. if you are vacationing in the bahamas I think you can afford the 100 bucks.

[babylonsister]

18. I realize that, but most people have free access to their

drivers license and birth cert. This calls for shelling out money, then waiting to get their passport. I think lots of people are about to be turned away who haven't heard about the new passport rule.

[Kali]

25. see my post (24) below.

also #9

[mitchleary]

17. The expense?

You got $$ to travel outside of the country, I do not think 65 bucks every ten years is going to break you.

[babylonsister]

22. Not necessarily. See post #9. nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. Reminds me of those who ask what's the big deal about

requiring a picture ID to vote.

It's called Big Brother Taking Away More of Our Freedoms.

Just spend more than 30 seconds thinking about it. :)

[sabbat hunter]

10. you realize

that you already need ID to get back in to the US. if you travel to any foreign country to get back in under existing laws you MUST show identification.

it isnt like you can just come back in now with no ID.

learn the facts. :)

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. I know the facts

You are the one who needs to do some research here. Any idea how expensive passports are?

And you may have no problem with registering so Big Brother knows where you are and what you are doing, but it gives me the creeps.

[Kali]

26. I have never had to show ID returning by vehicle from Mexico.

Have usually been asked verbally what my citizenship was.

[Ravy]

4. I think it has something to do with being asked to present your "papers".

People are used to showing their ID when boarding a plane, cashing a check, using a credit card occasionally. Having to show your "papers" has been looked on as a form of government repression.

That said, it is probably not a bad idea to have passports, but it just feels that we have lost something.

[sabbat hunter]

13. you already

have to show 'papers' to get back in. right now those 'papers' can be drivers license, birth certificate or a passport.

we havent lost anything, this is something that already exists.

I dont think there is a country in the world that lets people in without showing ID.

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. Tell me this does not bother you

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2982954&mesg_id=2982961

[high density]

31. RFID has a range of a few feet at best, not miles.

It's not a "lowjack" sort of tracking device. I'm not a huge fan of RFID but some of the tinfoil theories going on here are just too much.

[proud2BlibKansan]

36. Well I guess you have lived a charmed life

I have not, especially since 2000, and I definitely don't want the govt any more involved in my personal life or having knowledge of my whereabouts 24/7.

[high density]

37. An RFID chip does not give them access

to your "whereabouts 24/7." They don't work on a scale like that.

Keeping track of who is coming in and out of this country is not anything new. It predates both RFID and Bushco.

[Ravy]

23. It is not the same thing.

If it was, they would continue to allow showing a driver's license instead of a passport, wouldn't they?

[MaineDem]

9. Many people pass between Maine and Canada on a regular basis

Visiting families, going to a doctor, getting gas... The border is very undefined in many places; sometimes it's just crossing a bridge in the middle of the town.

It's one thing to present an ID at the border - most people have drivers licenses - but requiring a passport is an added expense for many poor people. What's the cost of a passport these days?

And I won't even get into the RFID issue.

[William769]

11. Somethings are just common sense, as you point out.

[John Q. Citizen]

12. Do you believe this will make us safer and freer? n/t

[sabbat hunter]

34. no i do not

however when you come back into the country now you are under law required to show id. now maybe that isnt always enforced, i dont travel that much to say one way or another. but if you have to show ID what is the difference which ID they require. be it a drivers license or passport, big brother already knows you. so what is the difference if you only can use a passport to get back in.

now if you told me you are required to show these ids on demand anything like that, I will be among the first to protest.

but requiring a particular form of ID isnt a big deal

[electron_blue]

15. it's a major pita. I never had to show ID for my daughter, just me.

My passport expired, my daughter doesn't have one yet. New pics will have to be taken, paperwork to be filled out. Yeah, if we were headed to England or someplace overseas, we would do that anyway. But for those of us who live close to the northern or southern border and used to cross over to visit Canada (or Mexico) for a half day and come back, are going to have to wait til we get a passport. I was planning to go to Thunder Bay soon, but now won't bcs I don't want to get into the whole passport issue for my daughter with my ex.

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. Ah I love Thunder Bay

What a nice city.

[Kali]

24. Clearly you do not live near the border.

Families looking at hundreds of dollars for IDENTIFICATION?! Sure a passport to you or me, as individuals, maybe not so big of a deal, but around here there are families that travel back and forth to visit relatives and that is a prety big hunk of money when you start adding in a bunch of kids.

[solara]

27. I looked it up

Age 16 and older: The passport application fee is $67. The execution fee is $30. The total is $97 .

Under Age 16: The passport application fee is $52. The execution fee is $30. The total is $82 .

The passport application fee includes the $12.00 Security Surcharge, which became effective March 8, 2005.

Expedited Service - Add $60 for each application

My post office quotes the fee as $157 Total + Expedition fee.

[mtnsnake]

29. It's the cost of it to millions of people who can't afford it, plus it's BS

Communities along the border are concerned it will have highly negative effects if US, Canadian, and Mexican citizens are required to buy passports to do something they've done for hundreds of years without this added cost. Not everyone can afford to pay for the cost of obtaining a passport, and there are so many times when relatives are visiting someone in one country and would like to cross once in a while to visit relatives on the other side.

Plus it's bullshit if they think that passports will amount to anything as far as securing our borders. Obtaining a passport is the last problem that any terrorists will have who are seriously bent on entering our country.

[alfredo]

30. If you are an outspoken critic of the junta they could see

that you are leaving the country for a visit or business, they can then cancel your passport making it impossible to return.

[sabbat hunter]

33. they can do that now

they can just get your drivers license revoked, etc.

[alfredo]

35. Now that bush doesn't have total control, such things will be

less likely.

[Blue_In_AK]

32. This is a bit of an issue

for Alaska, where if you plan to drive (well, actually, ferry) to Juneau or Southeast, you have to go through Canada to get to the ferry terminal in Haines. The times I've been over there, there was just a brief delay at the border while they "looked you over," and then you were on your way.

But my husband's been bugging me to get a passport anyway.