Dec 05 2006

DHS dismisses the right to travel

Rejecting the objections raised in comments by the Identity Project and others, the DHS Bureau of Customs and Border Protection has ordered that all travelers between the USA and Canada, Mexico, or other countries in the Western Hemisphere, where passports weren’t previously required, will have to present current valid passports to enter or leave the USA by air or sea, effective January 23, 2007.

“Your papers, please!”

Orders applying the same requirement to travel by land across the U.S. borders will follow, no later than June 1, 2009.

In issuing its final rule and an updated (but still grossly inaccurate) assessment for the “Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative”, the CBP summarily dismissed all of our objections based on international treaties and human rights laws protecting the freedom to travel:

Comment

One commenter stated that the NPRM [Notice of Proposed Rulemaking] is contrary to U.S. obligations under international human rights law, free trade agreements, and U.S. statutes, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Charter of the Organization of American States, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the NAFTA Implementation Act, because the rules restrict free movement of people in the Western Hemisphere.

Response

By requiring a valid passport as an entry document, DHS and DOS are not denying U.S. or non-U.S. citizens the ability to travel to and from the United States.

So I guess they mean that as long as they give us permission to travel, they can impose whatever restrictions they feel like on how, when, or where we are allowed to travel, or what papers we need to show them in order to get their permission?

8 thoughts on “DHS dismisses the right to travel

  1. This really has to stop. It is time to start travel boycots at a minimum. Hit the Globalist Terrorists where it hurts. This is the same as Russia and East Germany.

    How many more “Laws” that Control us for “Our Safety” are the sheep of this country going to put up with?

    Welcome to AmeriKa

  2. I’ve had the pleasure of traveling without ID for a bit now. I don’t drive, ergo no state ID, I dont make it a habit of traveling with my pasport, ergo that form of ID. The most I have is a student ID in which anyone could make.

    Its silly. Let go and let live.

  3. You of all people should know how prevalent fraud is out there–and what easier document to alter or counterfeit than a birth certificate (which is now the only required document for citizens traveling to adjacent island destinations). Requiring a passport helps ensure that the person actually matches the document. Of course fraudulent passports are out there; but it’s much harder to use a passport for an illegal entry into the U.S. (there are only a few types of U.S. passports) than it is to use a birth certificate (there are thousands of different types). I don’t think presenting a passport is that onerous of a burden. Think about the alternative: anyone making a claim to U.S. citizenship is allowed entry into the U.S. This is what you’re talking about if you want the freedom to travel internationally without I.D. Is that what you really want? I don’t.

  4. Pingback: Papers, Please! » Blog Archive » New passport rules frustrate last-minute travelers

  5. Does this apply for charter bus travel? I am taking a trip from detroit to toronto with 35 people. do they have to have anything special on them?

  6. The mossbacks who wish this on the United States have absolutely no clue. First, the 9/11 terrorists had passports. So, we’re going to enhance security by requiring that everyone else have passports too?

    Second, there are strong cross-border ties to which this law will be completely disruptive. How about I-Falls vs. Dryden in high school football? Imagine dealing with a school bus full of kids with passports? How about all the Canadians who come over to shop at Menards. Figure we’ll see them anymore?

    Third, it completely violates the spirit of NAFTA, the idea of open and free trade and borders. With the Schengen agreement which means the same kind of database in Europe that Homeland Security is (trying) to set up here, the Europeans have used the opportunity to RELAX internal border controls, while focusing on the external borders (i.e. the edge of the EU). Why can’t we do the same with Canada and Mexico and Bermuda? Heck of a lot easier to police Mexico’s short southern border than its northern one, eh?

  7. I couldn’t understand some parts of this article DHS dismisses the right to travel, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.

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