Time to Get a Passport
A new law goes into effect - air travel anywhere from the US now req
As part of a larger effort to reduce terrorism and fake passports, the TSA now requires that any US citizen who travels out of the US now needs a biometric passport.
Well, folks, the time has arrived. Any American citizen who plans air travel - practically anywhere - from the US now needs a passport. Proof of US residency via passports is the TSA’s chosen way of identity checks. Travel by plane kicks in first, but by 2009, cruise ship passengers and land border crossers will also need to show their passports as proof of identity (and residency).
It used to be that the lighthearted among us could decide on Friday to spend a long weekend, or Spring Break, in the Caribbean. They’d grab a cab to the airport, hop a plane to the Bahamas, attend Bible class on the beach (isn’t that what Spring Break is all about? I may be wrong here), and be back in class or at work Monday, tan and happy.
I’m not saying that the party – or Bible class – is over; it just takes a bit more preplanning to be a lighthearted traveler these days. As of January 2007, air travel to the Caribbean, Mexico, Canada, and other US neighboring countries require a passport. This includes the US Virgin Islands, which are actually part of the United States. St. John is one of my favorite Caribbean islands, and the last time I was there (with my dear grandma and aunt – party!) was before the creation of Homeland Security and the TSA. Times have changed, air travel has changed. It's getting harder and harder to be a lighthearted traveler these days.
But - at this point - we don't have much choice. The new passports are biometric; biometric passports have embedded chips with personal information on them, easily scannable by security at the airport. Is it better to have a new passport, with our personal info scannable via an embedded RFID chip, or to limit our travel to the United States? Don't get me wrong; the US is a beautiful and interesting country. But it would be sad (to me) if privacy concerns overwhelmed the desire to see the rest of the world. When my passport expires I'm getting a new one, RFID chip and all.
Links:
How to get your first US passport
Related, on Suite 101:
TSA Bans Snow Globes on Planes
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