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U.S. to Require Passport To Re-Enter Country

The Hobo writes "The CBC is reporting that starting in 2007, most Canadians will require a passport to cross into the United States and by 2008 Americans who crossed freely into Canada will be unable to return to the United States without a passport. The tougher new rules still allow Canadians to cross without being fingerprinted, but every person from any other country will be required to submit to fingerprinting." From the article: "Currently, Canadians and Americans are able to enter the United States with little more identification than a driver's licence or a birth certificate, though a passport has sometimes made it simpler to satisfy immigration officers at the border."

9 of 1,223 comments (clear)

  1. Strange.. by broothal · · Score: 0, Troll

    All Soviet Russia jokes aside, it's alarming how much the US resembles the old USSR. Impossible to get in and out of without a cavity search. Anything you say on the phone will be potentially picked up by the government, and privacy is virtually non-existant.

  2. A Better Idea by nurb432 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Just close the borders totally to all non US citizens. Anyone caught coming across for any reason, shoot them for trespassing.

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
  3. Re:Mexico, Eh? by Mr.Progressive · · Score: 0, Troll
    If you're an American without a passport...

    Kinda redundant, eh?

    /I keed

    --
    Okay, so a philosopher, a philologist, and a philatelist walk into a bar...
  4. Canadian Immigration by Skjellifetti · · Score: 0, Troll

    My brother (a USian) was hassled 4 or 5 years ago by Canadian Immigration after a flight from California for having only a Calif drivers license and not having a passport. He told them that if they wouldn't let him in, he wouldn't be able to buy the $2 million worth of high tech test equipment from the Canadian firm that he was on his way to visit. They backed down fast.

    These new requirements won't last. Canada and the US are each others biggest trading partners and there is too much at stake to let passports get in the way. There are over 100 million border crossings each year between the US and Canada. 15 million vehicles cross every year between Windsor and Detroit. Every time the President has asked Congress to allocate funds or require more security between the US and Canada, Congress has ignored him due to the large number of Congressmen whose districts would be hurt by such efforts (think WI, MN, MI, OH, PA, NY on trade or drive I-75 and check out all the cars from Ontario headed to FL - thats a lot of votes from both parties).

  5. Re:Mexico, Eh? by WaterBreath · · Score: 0, Troll
    So I guess my birth certificate proves nothing then.

    Sigh. I don't know why I'm even bothering to respond to this....

    1) Does your birth certificate have an up-to-date photo of you on it? Mine doesn't, and I'd guess if yours does, it's a fake. Which means you need some other form of photo ID to verify that the certificate is actually yours... Hmmm... Oh, hey, I just happen to have a passport with a recent photo on it! Oh, and it has my birthdate, and my name too, just like my birth certificate does. And it's harder to fake than a driver's license too!

    2) I don't know about you, but I've carried my passport on my person far more often than I have my birth certificate.

    If you're not smart enough to see that, then don't worry, we don't want you to come back.

  6. DOnt came here with your troubles. by tristezo2k · · Score: 0, Troll

    If you are unable to stay in peace, because you killed, crashed and burned to get your oil DO NOT even think in to come mexico. Dont you get it? Canadians are wellcomed in every where. You yankees DO NOT.

  7. Re:Say goodbye by anaesthetica · · Score: 0, Troll

    It's also a crying shame that the al-Qaeda cell that planned the 9/11 attacks was operationally based and then supported in Germany, and EU state. We can't just demand fingerprints from all the Muslim/Arab EUers, so we have to ask for it from all. It sucks that a few terrorists will ruin free and open travel between countries, but that's the deal.

  8. Re:Mexico, Eh? by Master+of+Transhuman · · Score: 0, Troll


    Hell, some years ago I had my wallet stolen and I tried to use my birth certificate to get some new ID. I went down to the INS because everybody was denying me the ability to apply for a job, and I was told that since this birth certificate was not "certified" by the state of Connecticut (it was my birth hospital certificate), I was technically not a US citizen and had not right to work in the United States!

    Despite having been born in the US (of parents who themselves were born in the US going back generations), and despite having used that birth certificate to get into the US Army and be sent overseas to shoot people, that birth certificate was not good enough for our friendly Federal government types (or the asshole corporate human resources types who are required to demand ID before they can hire you.)

    So don't be surprised if, one of these days, the Feds decide that you aren't a citizen because you slopped coffee on your "certified" birth certificate, or your driver's license, or your implanted RFID, or whatever else these fuckheads come up with to terrorize the citizenry.

    And don't be surprised if you end up in some hot place where vicious dogs and more vicious guards are used to keep you "under control" while they decide if you're even human enough to have any so-called "civil rights".

    You're in a totalitarian state now, homes, and don't you forget it.

    --
    Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
  9. Re:Of course it's not by pnewhook · · Score: 0, Troll

    No terrorists have ever entered the US from Canada! That was completely fabricated!

    --
    Tesla was a genius. Edison however was a overrated hack who liked to torture puppies.