U.S. Scales Back Passport Standards

[maddezmom]

By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer
53 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - The United States is expected to scale back its biometric passport requirements to make it easier for foreign travelers from allied nations to enter the country without a visa, The Associated Press has learned.

The new passport standards — requiring digital photographs to match with a person's unique physical characteristics by October and an embedded identification chip later — would be similar to international biometric guidelines already in place.

A Homeland Security official said the department was expected to unveil the new standards soon. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the standards had not yet been announced.

Initially, the United States considered requiring fingerprinting or iris identification features in biometric passports, making the documents virtually impossible to counterfeit. A 2002 law required visitors from 27 allied nations that are not required to apply for a U.S. visa to carry the high-tech passports.

~snip~
more: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050614/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_passports_5

[acmavm]

1. Scale back passport standard but wade through American citizen's

library records. Make it easier for us to be prosecuted as a 'terrorist', but let people from 'friendly' countries in without having any inconvenience or effort.

Now I have a headache and have to go to work. I've read way too many threads on what a bunch of stupid, myopic, dumbf***s are running my country.

[tabasco]

2. I believe all the 9-11 terrorists entered the country legally.

Why should we expect anything different the next time? And thanks to Bush, there will surely be a next time.

It's amazing that the standads for Saudi Arabians to enter haven't been tightened up at all. Bush wouldn't want to offend his business partners now, would he?

[Spazito]

3. McKenna predicts U.S. will drop passport plan

WASHINGTON — Canada's ambassador predicted Monday that the United States would drop a controversial proposal that would require all travellers to show passports in order to cross the long border between the two countries.

Discussions with the administration, which introduced guidelines to crack down on potential terrorist travel across borders, indicates that "passports will not be the ultimate requirements," Ambassador Frank McKenna said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Currently, U.S. and Canadian travellers need only driver's licences to cross the border, although passports are often shown.

Requiring passports, which only 20 per cent of Americans have, "would be a big change,'' McKenna said.

more

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1118704323604_65/?hub=Canada

[dubyaD40web]

4. Oh great!

Do they get free flight training too?

[Roland99]

5. What if they're carrying bloody chainsaws?