RSS 2.0 FeedNew Passport Rules Aren’t Making You Safer
by Brad WarbianyAnother lesson in unintended consequences…
A new rule aimed at protecting US borders is behind the backlog of passport applications that has frustrated countless Americans this summer.
But some experts and federal employees who check applications warn that these shortcomings mean more work needs to be done to improve this aspect of national security.
Increasing the number of Americans who hold passports will enhance border security, they agree. But limitations in the approval process, they add, make it difficult to be sure that those who shouldn’t get a passport don’t. Some argue that adjudicators aren’t given enough time to thoroughly check applications; others say the databases used to verify an applicant’s identity and eligibility are incomplete.
Changing the rules had two major effects. First, it discouraged many Americans from traveling to Canada/Mexico/Caribbean, because they don’t want to jump through all the hoops of getting a passport. But because so many others got their applications in all at once, the overload has made it impossible for them to do due diligence to make sure they’re actually not falsifying those documents. Of course, they believe they’re secure.
Passports are among the most secure government-issued documents. To receive passports, US citizens must prove citizenship and identity by presenting a birth certificate or baptismal record and a government-issued ID.
And even if the passports are correctly issued, there’s still another problem. The weakest link is a border checkpoint, where border workers have incentive to get people through. The process to get a passport might be incredibly strict, but if the process to show your passport to walk across the border is not, it doesn’t do much good. And that doesn’t even take illegal crossings into consideration.
As with most things the government does to make you safer, it adds to the hassle and the appearance of security, but doesn’t really provide it.
“And even if the passports are correctly issued, there’s still another problem. The weakest link is a border checkpoint, where border workers have incentive to get people through. The process to get a passport might be incredibly strict, but if the process to show your passport to walk across the border is not, it doesn’t do much good.”
I used to cross the U.S./Canada border on a daily basis in order to work. Once I received my passport the process of stopping and being checked by a border guard sped up considerably. Passports are similar to a driver’s license in that border guards have access to a database full of info on the owner. Part of the point of a passport is that the guards can “swipe” the passport (almost like a credit card, using data encoded on the first page) and instantly know whether or not the owner has a valid passport, a criminal record, etc. This system is much more reliable and much faster than depending on the driver’s license and birth certificate that used to be required. In the end, instituting a “passport only” system doesn’t slow anything down but instead speeds up the passage of legal, law-abiding citizens. Oh, and border guards are among the most anal people I have ever dealt with. The do the same process, every time, for everyone, even someone they see every day.
Comment by Melody Byrne — July 9, 2007 @ 10:13 am