WASHINGTON – U.S. officials announced Tuesday they will start issuing a special ID card later this year allowing frequent American travelers to Mexico and Canada to continue crossing the border without a passport.
Citing security concerns, the government said in the spring that as of 2008, travelers would be required to show passports when they re-enter the country from Mexico and Canada. But business and travel groups and residents of border communities objected, saying the plan could snarl traffic and discourage casual travel.
Officials said the card will be about the size of a credit card, carry a picture of the holder and cost about $50, or half the price of a passport. It will be equipped with radio frequency identification, allowing it to be read from several yards away at border crossings.
To obtain the card, officials said, citizens will be required to provide the same kind of documentation now used to obtain a passport.
Some industry officials said they remained concerned that even with the new approach, travel could be slowed and casual tourism discouraged.
Scotty Greenwood, executive director of the Canadian American Business Council, said her group was concerned about how the program would be implemented. She suggested a pilot program be launched to make sure the system works before it is put in place.
The passport requirement, part of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, has drawn fire from Gov. Christine Gregoire and British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell. In December, they sent Bush a joint letter saying they were “concerned that stringent requirements are being developed that will significantly alter the quality of life and economic prosperity for law-abiding citizens, while terrorists will continue to falsify any ID we put in place.”
Mexican officials have also protested the plan.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
