[gps-talkusers] FYI
- From: "Angela Griffith" <agrffth@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2007 08:25:33 -0700
Hi:
I thought I would share this as it has some relevance to those who may be
participating in the upcoming Wayfun trip.
Fed Ease Passport Rules To Allow For Backlog
POSTED: 7:32 am PDT June 8, 2007
WASHINGTON --
The Bush administration on Friday suspended some of its new, post-Sept. 11
requirements for flying abroad, hoping to placate Congress and irate summer
travelers
whose vacations have been thwarted by delays in processing their passports.
The proposal would temporarily lift a requirement that U.S. passports be
used for citizens flying to and from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and
Bermuda.
The rule, and its suspension, does not affect Americans driving across the
Canadian or Mexican borders or taking sea cruises, although those travelers
are expected to need passports beginning next year.
The suspension should allow the State Department to catch up with a massive
surge in applications that has overwhelmed passport processing centers since
the rule took effect this year. The resulting backlog has caused up to
three-month delays for passports and ruined or delayed the travel plans of
thousands
of Americans.
Until the end of September, travelers will be allowed to fly without a
passport if they present a State Department receipt, showing they had
applied for
a passport, and government-issued identification, such as a driver's
license. Those who have not applied for a passport will not be allowed to
travel.
Those with receipts but no passports would receive additional security
scrutiny, which could include extra questioning or bag checks.
"This is further evidence that the Department of Homeland Security and the
State Department are simply not ready to make this program work as well as
it
must," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., said his office has had to intervene in the
cases of more than 1,400 Minnesotans frustrated by the backlog.
"DHS's decision to suspend is simply common sense, and frankly, should have
been made months ago," said Coleman.
The change would help those like Judy and Darrell Green, of Rifle, Colo.,
who are still waiting to hear whether their son-in-law's passport will
arrive
in time for a a family vacation to Mexico to celebrate their 40th wedding
anniversary and Darrell's 60th birthday.
Darrell Green's passport arrived Thursday, only after Rep. John Salazar,
D-Colo., helped expedite it. Their son-in-law expects to get his Friday with
the
help of his congresswoman.
"It makes you feel kind of frantic because you've spent all that money,"
Judy Green said.
Homeland Security signed off on the proposal Thursday after consultations
with the State Department, the White House and members of Congress, who have
been
deluged with calls from angry constituents seeking help with their
passports.
Rep. Thomas Reynolds, R-N.Y., whose district lies near the Canadian border,
said White House officials had been on Capitol Hill trying to work out a
compromise
amid what he called a "turf war" between State and Homeland Security.
Reynolds faulted "arrogant" officials for failing to get the system working
properly, and said he was worried about even more headaches next year when
passports
will be required to drive into Canada or Mexico.
Lawmakers had been pushing for a change for weeks.
"To say people must have a passport to travel and not give people a passport
is right up there in the stupid column," said Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M.,
who urged the State Department to lift the rule last month.
The application surge is the result of the Western Hemisphere Travel
Initiative that since January has required U.S. citizens to use passports
when entering
the United States from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean by air. It is part
of a broader package of immigration rules enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks.
Between March and May, the department issued more than 4.5 million
passports. It has millions more to process, according to consular affairs
officials.
Wilson's office took more than 500 calls from frustrated travelers seeking
help in May alone. The problem has since spread from border states to Ohio,
Pennsylvania,
Kansas, Colorado and elsewhere.
This summer may not spell the end of the passport crunch. DHS has insisted
it plans to go ahead with a January 2008 start for requiring passports at
all
land border crossing in the United States -- a security measure that could
trigger a new frenzy applications. The State Department is still working on
creating a cheaper, passcard alternative for such land crossings.
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