[Hodar]

How can this not be a Felony? How can a person with a fake passport not be a felon? Using a counterfiet goverment document to gain access, or identify oneself is illegal. If I used a fake FBI badget to gain access to a crime scene, I would certainly go to jail. So, how is this allowed to go on?

[piasa]

I'm not worried about HIM - Anderson- getting in and out of the country with false papers. He reported the unusual interest in the things. What I am interested in is that a person in Customs haven't been doing their jobs, and someone ELSE may have been exploiting that. How well educated are Customs and Immigration workes, anyway? Stupidity and boredom can cause major mistakes.

[kevkrom]

How can this not be a Felony? How can a person with a fake passport not be a felon? Using a counterfiet goverment document to gain access, or identify oneself is illegal.

It's neither fake nor counterfeit -- that would require the passport trying to pass itself off as a passport from a recognized nation-state. I could legally create a "Republic of kevkrom" passport if I wanted -- the difficulty is getting someone to accept it.

The real "crime" here is that immigration/customs isn't checking passports to ensure that the issuer is legitimate -- while I'm generally in favor of open borders, a passport should at least be issued by a nation-state recognized by the State Department for immigration/customs purposes.

[karpach]

It's not a felony because you are not faking a passport. There is no Conch Republic, hence having a document that looks like a passport with the emblem of the Conch Republic is merely a novelty item. Not a fake document. Now having a fake passport with the U.S. emblem would be illegal.

[Servant of the Nine]

If you had a Fake FBI badge, that would be illegal, but it is legal to have a BFI badge. It is illegal to have a fake passport, but since there is no Conch Republic, the passports are not counterfeit, but just paper, like Monopoly Money.

[Don Joe]

"If I used a fake FBI badget to gain access to a crime scene, I would certainly go to jail. So, how is this allowed to go on?"

How about if you used a "Daily Planet" press pass from "The Kingdom of Fredonia" while wearing a Groucho eyeglass/nose set?

What about if you tried to buy a bus far with a "Bill Clinton $3 Bill"?

There's a difference between a joke/novelty item and a counterfeit document.