Regional travel does not require passports till September: US

Regional travel does not require passports till September: US
WASHINGTON - The United States said that it would have to relax the passport rules for people from the country flying to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda because there was a huge backlog in the number of passport applications being filled up.

This announcement was made on Friday and will expose the Bush administration to criticism that it is not serious about border security. However thousands of Americans will be able to easily fly out and keep their summer vacation dates intact.

By logging onto http://travel.state.gov, US citizen can apply for a passport and till September can travel to the above mentioned countries by using an acknowledgment that they have applied for the passport. Alternatively they can also use an identification given by the State Department toward the same.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican who already is a huge advocate of tight borders said in a statement that the government had failed to keep good its promise on tighter borders, "So, in response to the failing Senate immigration bill, the administration's reaction is to ignore ANOTHER law that everyone knew was set to take effect for the last two and a half years," he added.

the surge in the number of passport applications following a 2004 law that requires US citizens to hold passports if they want to travel to Canada, Mexico or Bermuda is responsible for the government's inability to cope with the deluge.