[pct-l] New border crossing plan

[vichansonperu at yahoo.com (Vic Hanson)]

ID Card Planned for the Borders
   
  The U.S. backs off an earlier edict that would have required travelers to show passports when they reentered from Canada or Mexico.
  
By Paul Richter, LA Times Staff Writer


  WASHINGTON ? U.S. officials announced Tuesday they would start issuing a special identification card this year that would allow Americans who frequently traveled to Mexico or Canada to continue crossing the border without a passport.

Citing security concerns, the government said last spring that as of 2008 travelers would be required to show passports when they reentered the country from Mexico and Canada. Business and travel groups and residents of border communities objected, saying the plan could snarl traffic and discourage casual travel.

Officials said the card would be about the size of a credit card, carry a picture of the holder and cost about $50, about half the price of a passport. It will be equipped with radio frequency identification, allowing it to be read from several yards away at border crossings.

To obtain the card, officials said that citizens would be required to provide the same kind of documentation needed to obtain a passport.

  For the whole article:
   
  http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-border18jan18,0,1125973.story?track=tottext,0,6756888.story?track=tothtml


Check out my blog for photos and stories of my adventures in Peru: 
http://spaces.msn.com/members/vichanson/


		
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