Passports to be required!

[AlecWest]

U.S citizens going to Canada or Mexico will be required to show passports to get into Canada or Mexico ... and show them again when they return. Canada will have the same requirement on the comings and goings of Canadian citizens. Not sure about Mexico:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-passport6apr06,0,487887.story?col...home-headlines

All I can say is this. If they require U.S. citizens to show passports to get back into the U.S. from Mexico ... and the government still lets Mexicans just waltz across the border ... the Minuteman vigilantes currently monitoring the Arizona border may start using their guns instead of their cellphones and two-way radios.

[ChrisX]

I say can remember need showing my Passport every time I enter Canada from the US or vice versa.

This is even for only a short few hours.

I’ve entered Mexico from the US too.

I don’t remember showing the passport to there though.

ChrisX

[Conquest10]

You watch Lou Dobbs Tonight, Alec?

I think this sucks too. In the past, I've been able to just waltz across the border either way. Didn't need a passport. I look like a Mexican citizen so no prob and then on the way back, I had an Illinois ID and spoke perfect English.

[pacmania_2001]

I remember crossing the border into Canada from the US and vice versa and being required to show a passport.

It wasn't really that stringent though, we spent about 10 minutes talking to the guard about Australia and he didn't even look in the motorhome we were travelling in.

[Kunta Kinte]

I remember growing up on the U.S. Canadian border. Went to Canada whenever I wanted to to, and came back home just as easily. Never needed a passport until I was an adult and needed it for my job.

[VideoTechMan]

Needing a passport now eh in about 3 years from now? Gonna make traveling between borders even more stressful. Of course you usually never have trouble going into Canada or Mexico, but coming back into the US it seems they enjoy giving you more of a hard time.

I know as a former truck driver the only thing besides my license I had to show was my birth certificate when i got back into the states to prove my citizenship. Not sure how they do it with regular drivers since I never crossed the borders in my own car. I guess getting a passport shouldnt be too difficult to obtain.

VTM

[AlecWest]

It's been years since I've been to Canada ... even longer since I've been to Mexico. But the last time I went to Canada via Interstate 5 north of Blaine, Washington, I remember seeing a "special lane" on each side for people who were daily cross-border commuters. They'd pay a special fee and "skip" the border lines altogether, just having to show their commuter card going each way. This commuter card made sense to me and I imagine it was a good source of revenue for both countries. I just wonder whether these future restrictions will do away with it.

On the Southern US border, this new presence by the MinuteMan people is worrisome to a lot of people. Currently, all they're doing is "spotting" alien entries and reporting them to the Border Patrol. But, most of them are carrying guns (legal in Arizona as long as they're not concealed) for personal protection. For now, all they are is a "finger" flipped at the government. But this new law is considered hateful to border residents in Arizona and Texas ... even those who think the MinuteMen are a bunch of loonies. It wouldn't take much to turn this benign situation into an international incident.

[Noahtuck]

I say can remember need showing my Passport every time I enter Canada from the US or vice versa.

This is even for only a short few hours.

I’ve entered Mexico from the US too.

I don’t remember showing the passport to there though.

ChrisX

See, i go with everyone else here, my daughter, this is last summer, went back and forth all the time to canada and she has never even had a passport in her life. she is 20. but i guess if they do this she will have to get one

[AlecWest]

While "border security" is the supposed reason behind these future rules, it might also be seen as a "cash cow" to US & Canadian passport offices (grin) ... forcing people to pay out the fees they haven't paid out before.

In any case, it's probably a good idea for people who even "think" they might cross borders to go out and get a passport if they don't already have one. In the US, it's not all that expensive and passports are good for ten years.

US Passport Office $97.00 (includes all fees)

Canadian Passport Office

[offline]

<sarcasm mode>

Good plan. I mean terrorists are all aliens and can't
get fake passports or false documents to obtain real ones.

[AlecWest]

<sacrasm mode>

Good plan. I mean terrorists are all aliens and can't
get fake passports or false documents to obtain real ones.

Absolutely, hehehe. This will stop 'em for sure.

It's probably just a cash-cow for US/Canadian passport offices and a feel-good provision so officials can say, "See, we're doing something about the problem." The sad thing is that there are enough "sheeple" out there who will believe it.

[AlecWest]

P.S. Just out of curiosity, since Australia has no border nations, what kind of "illegal alien" problems do you have down there? Do you have a Coast Guard that monitors potential seagoing entry points?

[pacmania_2001]

We get people who travel from all over the world to Indonesia and then come by boat from there.

We have a coast guard and navy including spy planes that monitor for people smugglers and also illegal fishing in our waters. It's taken quite seriously by the Australian government. A few years ago a ship was boarded by the SAS (Aussie Special Ops) because it had illegal immigrants on. Also an illegal fishing boat was chased all the way to South Africa and boarded by SAS when it was fishing in our waters.

[pacmania_2001]

We also have alot of people who come on tourist, student or temporary work visas and never leave.

[offline]

AlecWest,

the true situation is that we can't possibly cover our coastline, let alone our sea. Despite common misconceptions, our ability to police our land and sea borders is next to nil.

We have no coastguard yet, but we will be buying more patrol vessels for the navy and a special unit.

We have OTHR (Over the Horizon Radar) and some limited range/speed custom vessels. There is a contracted light plane flyover every few weeks for some remote areas. Mostly intelligence is derived from islanders, fishing vessels and international tankers.

Most illegal aliens come from Britain and Europe and are white anglosaxons. A funny fact not known to the general public. The pollies love to run scare campaigns about terrorists arriving by leaky boat via Indonesia.

The stupid thing is that we can't board ships covered by certain flagship states (like Tonga) no matter what. We have to wait and see if we can catch them on land and we only own one patrol boat capable of the speed and fuel capacity required to chase some of these guys. It's not all gov't bungling. Our coastline is just too long. A logistical nightmare in fact.

[thesnow]

I think this topic started on the wrong foot, you need a Canadian passport to enter the U.S.
Our U.S. neighbors only need a smile to enter Canada.

[AlecWest]

I think this topic started on the wrong foot, you need a Canadian passport to enter the U.S.

Hmmm ... then the article I linked to is giving out misinformation - quote:

Similarly, Canadians, who have been able to enter the United States with a driver's license, would need a passport.

Our U.S. neighbors only need a smile to enter Canada.

For now, anyway.

[AlecWest]

Most illegal aliens come from Britain and Europe and are white anglosaxons. A funny fact not known to the general public. The pollies love to run scare campaigns about terrorists arriving by leaky boat via Indonesia.

Hehehe. So they just come over on some kind of tourist or student visa ... then "melt" into the wordwork of society. Are many of them caught ... or do they just get fake Aussie IDs and learn to speak "Strine?"

[MOVIEGEEK]

I think this law is a good start but not foolproof.
Getting a passport is easy in the US:you just need a certified birth certificate,ID,$97 and a photo.
You can get one at most post offices.
Last time I went to Canada was in 1997 and Mexico was 1994,when I returned US customs just asked where I was born.

[richdvd]

Our U.S. neighbors only need a smile to enter Canada.

Nope, that's not the way it will work.
It will be the same both ways....as it should be.

[vitualis]

We also have alot of people who come on tourist, student or temporary work visas and never leave.

Actually, despite the impression that you may get from the Howard Government, the vast majority of our "illegals" are of this sort. In fact, the majority of "illegals" are British...

Regards.

[Craig Tucker]

You've got the room :P

[VCDHunter]

We also have alot of people who come on tourist, student or temporary work visas and never leave.

Actually, despite the impression that you may get from the Howard Government, the vast majority of our "illegals" are of this sort. In fact, the majority of "illegals" are British...

Regards.

Yes and everytime you send us another shitty singer, soap opera or student barman we'll send you another boatload of idiots.

What are these British "illegals" anyway ? People who go for a holiday and up up staying ?

[pacmania_2001]

It's not hard to pick out the pommy illegals. They're the ones who whinge about everything and call soccer, football and think it's a real sport.

[SquirrelDip]

This passport thing has been on the news off and on the past while. Latest is that the Americans are going to require Canadians to have passports... Candaians are considering the requirement for Americans to have passports.

The old way was you only needed a valid picture I.D. - generally just a driver's license. Since 911 it was stepped up a bit, you needed a drivers license and a birth certificate.

I can't see different rules for travelling across, I'm guessing that the Canadians will require the Americans to have passports.

[lordsmurf]

It's not hard to pick out the pommy illegals. They're the ones who whinge about everything and call soccer, football and think it's a real sport.

[pchan]

How I wish that "they" just listen to John Lennon's Imagine !

[VCDHunter]

It's not hard to pick out the pommy illegals. They're the ones who whinge about everything and call soccer, football and think it's a real sport.

I can't see how they are illegals, surely it's our island we're just letting you rent it whilst we ruin this one ?

[Hardcoreruss]

[pacmania_2001]

I'm not too worried. Your lily white, girly men skin couldn't handle our conditions. :P