To get back to the U.S., pack a passport

Miami Herald ^ | BY ALFONSO CHARDY AND INA PAIVA CORDLE

[Archangelsk]

Papers please.

[stuartcr]

At $55 a passport, and $10, for pictures...there will be a decent amount of revenue generated by this.

[Mrs.Liberty]

Is this the place to notice the irony of Americans having to show their passports on return to the country, while illgals cross the border into the country every day?

[newgeezer]

If it's worth implementing, why wait so long to implement it?

Incredible.

[Chunga]

Every American tourist in Central America or the Caribbean next year will be wearing a target.

[newgeezer]

At $55 a passport, and $10, for pictures...there will be a decent amount of revenue generated by this.

Canada is understandably upset about it. Tourism will suffer. I know I'll be satisfied to see Niagara Falls from our side, when I finally get around to seeing it.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

...Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaking about the travel measures in an Associated Press interview, said the United States had to take every precaution to screen out ``people who want to come in to hurt us.''...

Jeez, Condi. We're talking about Americans returning home you dunce!

In the mean time, what the hell are you doing to stop real hordes of criminal invaders from entering en masse?

Does the air in D.C. kill braincells by the billions with every breath?

[BP2]

Just like gun laws, this will affect only law-abiding citizens.

[jpl]

At $55 a passport, and $10, for pictures...there will be a decent amount of revenue generated by this.

Fifty or sixty bucks every ten years for someone who's flying to Rio or the Caribbean is hardly going to put that person into bankruptcy. And chances are, someone who travels extensively already owns their ten-year passport, now they just need to carry it more. I'd hardly call this an oppressive burden.

[stuartcr]

Neither would I.

[whd23]

Isn't this what passports are for?

Whenever we travel to Canada, I bring my passport. What's the big deal, anyway?

[Dane]

You perpetual malcontents are something else.

You give a face to the saying, "damned if you do, damned if you don't".

[tfecw]

Thank you for that. If pictures are costing you 10 bucks, you need to go to someone else. Also, there doesn't seem to be a shortage of parents that are shelling out a 100 bucks for school photo package A?
Every time i leave the states i know where the closest US embassy is and have my passport duck-tapped to my chest (okay, on my person ;) ) I even brought it to Canada, I got tired of them asking stupid questions about the state on my DL. "How's the weather in Texas?" "Fing hot sir, can i go now?"

[AntiGuv]

FWIW, back in my early twenties when I lived for a while near the Canadian border I used to make trips across on a lark fairly regularly. It wouldn't have been that big a deal, but if I'd needed a passport I just probably wouldn't have bothered going.

Only about 20% of Americans have a passport, BTW.

[IamConservative]

Personally, I never have and never would leave the United States WITHOUT a passport.

[joesnuffy]

Every American tourist in Central America or the Caribbean next year will be wearing a target

Roger that

[MineralMan]

"Isn't this what passports are for?
Whenever we travel to Canada, I bring my passport. What's the big deal, anyway?"

---

Bingo! Anytime a US Citizen leaves this country, they should be carrying their passport. It may not be required to enter some countries, but if you have problems while there, you'll be a lot better off it you have it.

I have not left the country without my passport for over 30 years. It just ain't happening.

[AntiGuv]

If it's worth implementing, why wait so long to implement it?

Because it's pretty dumb. Any malcontent would just waltz across the border anyhow. There are over 12 million illegals in this country - most of them didn't show ID when they crossed....

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

What happend, miss the short bus again and now you're home for the day?

[Nowhere Man]

At $55 a passport, and $10, for pictures...there will be a decent amount of revenue generated by this.

I'm ignorant on how much a passport costs, but at the drugstore photo lab I work at, we only charge $8 for two pictures, sometimes we run specials at $6.