Cheaper PASS to Replace Passports at Mexico, Canada Crossings

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, yesterday announced the creation of a passport alternative intended for Mexico and Canada border crossings. The People Access Security Service Card, or PASS, will be cheaper than a passport and will eliminate the possibility of using driver's licenses and birth certificates as border crossing identiication tools.

Passports are not currently neccessary for US citizens crossing the Canadian and Mexican borders; that requirement is being phased in through 2007 (see the current passport implemementation schedule). Travel associations have commented negatively on proposed implementation of passport regulations. The National Tour Association, which has a membership comprised largely of tour operators, had previously informed the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security that "...a passport-only (border crossing) requirement would severely limit student travel." In a statement, the NTA wrote, "It is our position that if licenses and birth certificates, and/or another secondary document, comply (with ID requirements), they also should be authorized as appropriate substitutes to a passport."

"The creation of a cheap, secure alternative to passports is good for the industry and good for the traveling public," NTA President Hank Phillips, CTP, said of the PASS. "Until we know more about it, however, we cannot accurately gauge the impact on student and senior travel." Passports are currently $85, which can be a major expense for a budget or student traveler. A Hearst Newspapers story cited a Homeland Security spokesman as saying the new PASS would cost about $50. The biometric PASS will be phased in later this year.

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