Passports

[observor 69]

Ref Yanks requiring Canadians to have passports, I noticed this amusing thought on another web site today:

"I forget - didn't the ACTUAL terrorists all have passports?" 

 

[Journeyman]

And they tried to have proper visas too, but the INS bureaucracy screwed that up...not issuing their visas until six months after they took down the WTC.

Mind you, Newt Gingrich got lots of press coverage for stating that, "far more of the 9/11 terrorists came across from Canada than from Mexico," when in fact, they all came directly into the US...with legal paperwork.  :

 

[Spartan]

What I found really interesting in the Government's latest policy change wrt passport applications. The renewing a passport without(completely) reproving who you are makes some sense. What doesn't make sense is the government changing the policy from a "professional" to act as a guarantor to ANYONE WHO HAS A PASSPORT. This had bad written all over it. A simple solution would of been to expand the list of professionals that could act as guarantors. This change in policy to allow anyone to sign off authenicity of a person has security risk in bright highlighter colours.

 

[Genetk44]

What doesn't make sense is the government changing the policy from a "professional" to act as a guarantor to ANYONE WHO HAS A PASSPORT.   

This seems to me to be leaveing a possibly large security loophole available to the bad guys.
I"d prefer to see us have passports that are valid for 10 years like the US and many European countries have......seems to me that that  would help over time, streamline the process.