passport requirement now January 30, 2008
[url]http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070903/ap_on_go_ot/border_longer_lines[/url]
. . .
Delays on the southern border prompted an angry letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff from the Border Trade Alliance, a U.S. association of border businesses, chambers of commerce, academic institutions and others.
Three of the group's leaders alleged Customs and Border Protection had adopted a policy at Chertoff's direction to "check and enter" at least 60 percent of U.S. citizens' driver's licenses. They asked him to end the practice.
Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Maggie Myers denied Chertoff had ordered the stepped-up checks. The agency did not respond to additional questions, including whether the order came from someone else.
The U.S. plans to require all citizens to show a passport or other photo ID deemed acceptable by the Homeland Security Department when they re-enter this country beginning January 30, 2008.
The plan is similar to passport requirements in effect now at airports as part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.
The tougher inspections follow Chertoff's comment last month that he had a "gut feeling" the nation faced an increased risk of attack this summer. In May, an inspector waved a tuberculosis-infected man through the Champlain, N.Y. border station, despite a computer alert that he be stopped.
The long waits have heightened concerns that the inspections will choke off commerce
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BTW guys it took me four months and about a $100 to get my passport.
APPLY NOW!!
Child support and passports
[url]http://travel.state.gov/passport/ppi/family/family_863.html[/url]
Section 51.70 (a) (8) of Title 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations states, in part, that if you are certified to Passport Services by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to be in arrears of child support payments in excess of $2,500, you are ineligible to receive a U.S. passport
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wow, if you owe child support, it's tough to get laid.
Can't get laid by your ex-wife, can't get laid in Juarez. . .