If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
The governor of Washington state has asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for permission to try an alternative to passports at two major Canada-U.S. border crossings.
Christine Gregoire has proposed that handheld driver's licence scanners be tried for a three-month test program at the Blaine border crossing south of Vancouver and at the Port Angeles border crossing south of Victoria.
The wireless scanners, which cost $10,000 each, scan the bar code on the back of licences, checking for fakes and whether the driver is on any security watch lists.
Gregoire said she hopes that the trial would dissuade the U.S. government from going ahead with its requirement for passports or other high-tech ID cards for Americans and Canadians at all border crossings by the summer of 2009.
Until now, a driver's licence has been all that's required.
MORE click above link to read.
I’m all for this, I’m not sure how secure most American licenses are but the ones in Washington and BC are much harder to duplicate/counterfeit then a passport which is pretty dam easy. I think keeping it based on licenses and using a better system to track those licenses will offer more security then the proposed passport requirement from Congress.
Top
