Bush: No passports at borders

Fox.com ^ | 4/15 | Fox News

[Personal Responsibility]

WASHINGTON — Plans requiring passports from people entering the United States don't pass muster with President Bush

[sheana]

Americans should NOT have to have a passport to enter their own county. Everyone else should.
How simple is that?
Asking Americans for a passport to reenter their country is tantamount to....."papers please".

[el_doctor2]

Hes Right: Passports wont do anything. We cant check peoples passports until we catch them!

The Real solution could always be a Fence or Wall. The only traffic going through the none policed entrences (Ex. Deserts and Rivers as opposed to highways) Is a one-way stream from Mexico. A Fence and or wall could solve all that!

[Marine Inspector]

It really hurts business and I don't want my biometric data taken just because I want to spend a day or two in Mexico or Canada.

It won't hurt business and you are subject to CBP taking you biometric data when you reenter the country anyway.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

You edited out some of the important text, hence taking it out of context, troll. If you want to trash President Bush, head to DU. The complete thought on the comment to chose to pick out reads:

WASHINGTON — Plans requiring passports from people entering the United States don't pass muster with President Bush (search), who has ordered a review of this border security effort amid fears it would impede legal travel from Canada, Mexico and other U.S. neighbors.

This is correct. It will cause people in Canada to not be able to travel in as easily who are entering legally. From the folks I know up there, getting a passport is not the something you can do easily.

What is wrong with it being reviewed?

[demkicker]

It really hurts business

I say hogwash... How does it hurt business?

[KJC1]

I read it, and saw this further down. Doesn't sound so horrible to me at least:

Bush said the rules must be more flexible, and could include electronic fingerprint imaging "to serve as a so-called passport for daily traffic" to help speed up the process.

[trisham]

And so it begins...... Bush relaxing his security stance....boosting Tancredo for 08....Tancredo loses....Jeb in 2012.

**************

Jeb has lost his appeal, imho.

[OXENinFLA]

Q Mr. President, a month ago you stood in Crawford with the leaders of Mexico and Canada and talked about the importance of balancing security, but maintaining the free flow of trade and people across the borders. But this month, your Department of Homeland Security has said that they're going to be requiring passports for tourists coming across the border. As somebody who is familiar with the long lines at today's border, do you -- what's your reaction to the protests from the business and tourism community? And do you support the requirement of passports?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I'm aware of the issue, obviously. When I first read that in the newspaper, about the need to have passports, particularly today's crossings that take place -- about a million, for example, in the state of Texas -- I said, what's going on here. I thought there was a better way to do -- to expedite legal flow of traffic and people. Evidently this has been mandated in law. And so I've talked to Condi and the Homeland Security people about making -- seeing if there's some flexibility in the law that will allow for, for example, finger imaging to serve as the so-called passport for daily traffic. But you're right, it's going to -- if people have to have a passport, it's going to disrupt honest flow of traffic. I think there's some flexibility in the law. And that's what we're checking out right now.

On the larger scale, look, we got a lot to do to enforce the border. For those of you in Arizona, now know that Arizona has got more illegal immigrants coming across their border than, I guess, any other state right now. My view is Congress needs to work with us to pass immigration reform. One, we got to enforce the border better. We've increased border spending by 34 percent since, I think, 2001. But it doesn't make any sense to me to have a system that kind of forces an industry to develop, an industry that smuggles people, an industry that forges documents, an industry that really doesn't represent the best of America.

It seems like to me what we ought to do is be open about it, and say, look, if you're a willing worker and a willing employee, and you can't find an American, here's a legal way to work. Here's a document which enables you to be here legally so that if you decide to go home for a little bit, you can. And there will be time limit on the document, a time limit on the right to be here to work. To me it's a more humane way than a system which encourages employers who are looking for workers to break the law, to accept -- unknowingly accept illegal documentation, for example. And so I -- and this is a tough issue. Look, I understand. The danger with the immigration issue is that it can be -- it can lead to nativism and encourage behavior which is really not how Americans should view the world.

The long-term solution, by the way, to -- for example, immigration issues with Mexico, is for Mexico to grow a middle class. That's why I'm such a big believer in NAFTA. It's in our interest that wealth be spread out through the hemisphere -- the best way to spread wealth is through trade -- so that Mexico can grow and become a vibrant place, so people are more likely to be able to find a job closer to home. But the reality is if you make 50 cents in the interior of Mexico and $5 in Texas, you're going to do $5, if you can make it. And so now is the time for legal -- reforming of the immigration system.

I don't believe in blanket amnesty. I think it would be mistake. I think that wouldn't -- all that would do is create another incentive for 8 million people, whatever the number is, to come. And so I think if somebody wants to be a citizen, they ought to get in line like everybody who has gotten in line to become a citizen of the United States. And so my vision is one that's work-related, and hopefully we can get Congress to move on it. There's some bipartisan movement on this issue, as well. But I'm under no illusions, this is a tough issue for people. And it's a hard one. But the system is not working right now.

And when you talk about border security, George, it's -- it would be better if our Border Patrol agents were chasing down drugs and guns than trying to chase down people. And by that I mean, it would be a much more efficient use of taxpayer's money if the system were legal, the worker system was legal so that the Border Patrol could focus on other issues. In other words, if it were legal, people wouldn't have to get in the back of an 18-wheeler. If it were legal to come here and work, you wouldn't have to walk miles across the hot desert. And it would make it easier to protect our border with an immigration system that worked on legalizing work.

[Marine Inspector]

How do you determine who is legal vs. illegal without checking their ID's?

You can't and the US passport is the least abused and hardest document to counterfeit.

[Strategerist]

Yeah, when I coached speech and debate we had a lot of tournaments in the Detroit area and by far the quickest way to get there from Ithaca was through Canada.

As it is it's really difficult to get back in the country if you look foreign; a friend of mine in High School had his younger (adopted from Korea as an infant) sister held up at the border forever; this was well before 9/11.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Exactly. See my post above. The goal here was to trash GW. That's all.

[gaspar]

For weeks Customs agents have been informing Americans entering Mexico that by 2007 they will have to have passports to re-enter the USA. Wasn't our Commander in Chief aware of what was happening? This is just another indication that Bush is unable to concentrate on more than one issue at a time.

[BJClinton]

It's pointless while we still have such porous borders.

Bingo. When I skip over to Nueva Laredo I'll show a passport to get back, meanwhile 50 miles upriver my office's future lawnkeeper is wading the Rio Grande.

[sam_paine]

Ok....grant your wish. Borders locked down. Big push made, and a big show of "looky us, megasecure borders" woohoo!

Then 19 hijackers legally inside the country take over airplanes and crash them into buildings. Terrorists rejoice. Mission accomplished.

If you claim to support the theory (as I do) that you have to kill and disassemble terrorists at their source BEFORE they get here, then you have to believe it here too.

One hole in the border ANYWHERE makes it useless. So a dollar spent on border "security" is one less dollar spent on disarming Qaddaffi or dropping a JDAM on Zarqawi.

[MACVSOG68]

Exactly. We need to use market forces to address this 'so called' border problem. It's funny how most on this thread seem to think ANOTHER piece of paper required by government is going to make them feel better.

Didn't see a /sarcasm note, so have to think you are serious. We are talking about 2 concerns here at our borders, control of the non-entry point lengths of border, and better control at the entry points.

While most here seem very concerned over buttoning up the non-entry border areas, in fact, the most dangerous can very easily go through the entry points without more and tougher conrols, paper or not. There is little doubt left for me that our President is not serious about either of those problems. He must be thinking that the war on terror can be successfully fought on foreign shores alone, but that is simply false.

I wonder if Tom Tancredo is the only elected official in the country who can see the dangers on our borders?

[Marine Inspector]

Just another reason why it's impossible to take Bush seriously on the WOT when he steadfastly refuses to protect even his own borders.

Bingo.

[Strategerist]

This is just another indication that Bush is unable to concentrate on more than one issue at a time

Or nobody thought to tell him.

[TomGuy]

The thing at issue is absolutely no one told the White House about the change to requiring passports; Bush was completely blindsided and said he found out about it on the radio

I don't buy that at all.

But, say it is true, then it just exemplifies how out of touch with mainstream America Bush and Co really are. That is even worse.

[trisham]

You edited out some of the important text, hence taking it out of context, troll. If you want to trash President Bush, head to DU. The complete thought on the comment to chose to pick out reads:

*****************

Bingo.

[Coop]

You edited out some of the important text

It appears you have both read the article cited.

Please leave this thread immediately! ;-)