Editorial: Don’t leave home without it

Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007 | 7:08 a.m.

S tarting Tuesday, air travelers coming into the United States from Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean were being asked to present passports for entry, rather than the birth certificates or driver's licenses that historically had been accepted. That includes American citizens.

And as of January 2008, this passport requirement also will apply to people arriving in the United States by land or sea. The Sept. 11 Commission recommended the stepped-up requirements. Congress passed them in 2004. The objective is to limit the types of documents travelers may present when entering the United States.

According to a story by USA Today on Monday, there are more than 8,000 styles of birth certificates issued in the United States alone, which made it virtually impossible for border inspectors to find fake or invalid ones. Technological improvements have made it possible for airport customs agents to read U.S. passports with scanners, which check them against federal databases in almost an instant. The process is fast and, U.S. officials say, more accurate.

Still, the requirement may take some getting used to for U.S. residents who live in towns along the borders of Canada or Mexico. It is common in some of these areas for U.S. residents to venture across the border for dinner, a day's shopping or, in some Canadian border towns, even for work.

Randy Williams, president of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, told USA Today that the documentation requirement "will change the psyche" of a long-enjoyed "freedom of travel over a trusting border."

The change in mind-set occurred because of the 2001 terrorists' attacks. It is unfortunate that times are different. But the United States is serious about securing its borders - to the point of erecting fences along parts of it. And the types of documentation that are accepted for entry must be consistent.