Recent studies point to passports for U.S.-Canadian solution
Like it or not, requiring a passport for travel in and out of Canada is a good idea. Right now, drivers' licenses aren't enough; they're just too easy to counterfeit. Students may gripe about the $90 fee and hassle involved in acquiring one, but the protection they bring outweighs the inconvenience.
Understanding fake ID abuse at the border is not a far reach. As many college students know, a fake ID is not hard to come by, and recent slip ups in security make the U.S.-Canadian border look like the bouncer at a freshman dive bar.
Since the fateful days of 9/11, the Government Accountability Office has stepped up its border studies. Sending investigators equipped with fake IDs across the Canadian border and back, the agency tests the effectiveness of their border patrol; and despite the amount of money that has gone into the border control, the results are continually shocking.
In 2003, a total of 14 fakers, officials with fake IDs, were sent across, with only one of those 14 caught by border patrol. This year all 18 fakers made it back to U.S. soil with no problem. Stagnancy is one problem, but regression is a whole other nightmare.
These alarming statistics support the need for immediate use of a passport. The only problem is that the Senate has proposed two delays, which have the potential to postpone the January 2008 induction to an even more distant date of June 2009.
While passports are a second priority in Washington, border control remains a major concern. Three new facilities are under construction in Minnesota and North Dakota and a new wave of border officials are being hired and trained for those locations. Millions of dollars are being allocated to the remote frontiers of the west, but glaring holes in security for high traffic border crossings have been left exposed.
Instead of handing more border control officers a canoe and a paddle, more security and resources must be directed to main thoroughfares. Guarding those dangerous hot spots like the Minnesota frontier may seem like well-spent defense money, but each year there are over 200 million border-crossing individuals, and it is safe to assume that a majority of those crossings occur through areas like the Buffalo-Niagara area.
Passports, the future EZ pass for border control
In addition to the obvious safety improvements, the requirement of passports would greatly enhance efficiency, getting people through the border in a more timely manner. Instead of pulling out a stack of papers (license, birth certificate, etc.) and being questioned by an officer, a passport could be used like an EZ pass for the border.
Learning the ins and outs of every different state license is a difficult task, and having one form of identification will make officer training easier and more efficient. If a passport is the only acceptable form of ID, officers can focus on knowing every sign of counterfeiting and tampering for that specific medium without distraction. This will cut down on mistakes, firm up the loose ends and make it a faster experience for everyone - f including students.
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
