Bush Shocked at White House Passport Plans

Posted on April 15, 2005

Apparently, someone forgot to tell President Bush about the new regulations which will require Americans to have a passport to re-enter the United States from Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean. The new regulations are supposed to take effect by 2008. But since only 20% of Americans have passports and so many people go back and forth across the Texas-Mexico, California-Mexico and the U.S-Canada borders every day, the new regs are going to be a real pain in the neck for many businesses and tourists. At a press conference Thursday, President Bush expressed surprise about the new regs, which is in itself surprising because the White House had signed off on the change.

"When I first read that in the newspaper about the need to have passports, particularly the day crossings that take place, about a million for instance in the state of Texas, I said, 'What's going on here?'" Bush said when asked about the new rules at an American Society of Newspaper Editors convention. "I thought there was a better way to expedite the legal flow of traffic and people."
The president said he has instructed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and officials from the Department of Homeland Security to see if there is enough flexibility in the new policy to accommodate regular travelers, including truckers and tourists. Bush said one option might be electronic fingerprint imaging, "to serve as a so-called passport for daily traffic."
A senior U.S. government official involved in the policy change said Homeland Security and State Department officials had vetted the change exhaustively with the White House before announcing it. The officials said they always anticipated some changes would be needed.

So, will you need a passport to go to Tijuana from San Diego? Or to come back to Seattle by ferry from Vancouver Island? Beats me. But you might want to get that passport up to date, just in case.