Day Pass, Family Discount Card or Passport? Wait and See
A new passport requirement for those crossing the U.S.-Canadian border may be eased with a family discount-card program and a day-pass option. authorities said Monday.
Such options are welcomed by towns and cities along the border, where residents chafe at the notion they will someday need a $97 passport or a $50 ID card to cross.
However, the day-pass proposal worries those seeking tighter security to deter terrorists.
Lawmakers along the border, including in Washington, have been pushing the Homeland Security and State departments for months to come up with a cheaper, quicker alternative to the passport requirement, which is to go into effect in 2008 under a new law called the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.
Officials at both federal-government agencies said Monday they are also considering a family-discount price for the pass cards, and day passes for spontaneous border trips.Officials on both sides of the northern border argue the passport rule would reduce trade and leisure travel between the two countries.
The U.S. government, however, maintains it is necessary to prevent terrorists from entering the country.
