When commerce and security collide

New requirements set to go into effect on January 8, 2007, would require U.S. travelers returning from Canada, Mexico, Panama and the Caribbean islands to present passports to return to the United States.  At the moment, the presentation of driver’s licenses and birth certificates suffice for reentry.  (Although I observed on a recent return trip from Canada that U.S. citizens without passports had a bit of a slog trying to get through U.S. immigration at the airport in Vancouver.)

The passport requirement were enacted as part of a laundry list of post-9/11 measures designed to improve security through more rigorous documentation requirements at points of entry.  In today’s New York Times, Rachel Swarn notes that largest travel industry association in the US is opposing the move, and has urged the Bush administration to delay implementation until June 2009.  The full article is here.

-jmc