Man arrested at Best Buy for using $2 bills

[ShadowHM]

The passport law is a reasonable action on the border.  Currently the fastest way through our local border, north of Seattle on I-5, is to have a Nexus card, because you skip the line of cars, and the next fastest is to have a passport in the regular line.  A passport for crossing our southern border is long overdue, IMHO.

Mandatory use of Passports will only be an inconvenience the first time for citizens.  To get a passport, fill out the form, get the picture, pay the fee, and wait a bit.  A little planning now can make it easy to take those spur of the moment trips to see our friends above the parallel.  Getting yourself a passport is a good idea.


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You are probably right about the reasonability of such a rule, given how porous the Canadian borders seem to be. :(

However, you will readily understand, I am sure, my reluctance to go through the hassle (and expense) of six passports, most of which will need renewing long before the usual ten year life expectancy of such a document, just for the sake of 'popping in for coffee' when on a family excursion to Niagara.

For anyone who routinely travels between the U.S. of A. and Canada, whether on personal or business reasons, having one is already a good idea, especially for those who are naturalised citizens (i.e. not born in Canada). However, having a passport, when actually driving across the border, (as opposed to flying to your destination) is not any guarantee of swift passage. Line-ups are long and bridges are in short supply. Any extra documentation that must be produced is bound to slow the process down and make those lines longer.

And, for families: a further complicating factor is travel with children. I do understand the need to protect children from parents who kidnap their kids and flee the country. But the cost of that protection is a giant PITA for anyone who is travelling with children but not with spouse. Getting sworn affadavits for a weekend at the cottage when the wife has to work is not something easy to do, especially if the wife can't come because she has to work overtime, eh? I have friends who have faced this, and it just added frustration to the trip even before the inevitable "Are we there yet" and "I have to go...." have set in.

As to this meriting its own thread? Maybe. :P