The Department of Homeland Security today announced suspension of the new rules which require US citizens to show a passport when returning by air from Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean — because the State Department has a backlog in processing of passport applications.
Does anyone else besides me remember that the new rules were announced well in advance of their effective date? Why should I pay in decreased security for those who refuse to get things done in a timely manner? What number of ill-intentioned persons will be allowed to slip into my country due to this slacking of enforcement?
At the end of this past January, I was presented with an opportunity which would require that I make one or more trips abroad over the course of the remainder of the year, beginning in mid-to-late May. The very first thing I did — even before knowing for certain that I would be traveling and the exact dates and locations of travel — was to apply for a new passport since my old one had expired years ago. Reports of the processing backlog were already being published — and I wanted to do all that I could to make sure that I would have my passport in-hand well before I needed it. That included to have it before I bought non-refundable plane tickets. The passport arrived in the mail a couple days short of the announced ten weeks processing period — three weeks before I would need to purchase airfare to be able to travel cheaply in mid-to-late May.
Given my ability to get on the ball to securing a passport just as soon as I knew that I might be traveling abroad and not saving that most important step until late in the planning — I call on the Feds to partially reinstate the new passport rules to deny entry to anyone who’s passport receipt is dated to show that they did not apply soon enough to expect to have it in-hand for travel according to published wait times. I also call on those who have even the slightest belief that they might be making a land crossing of either our northern or southern border beginning January 1st of next year — when a passport will be required for re-entry — to get their application in now so that they don’t end up to be crying fools like so many of those who have been crying to their Congressmen because they didn’t bother getting their passport application in on time.
