WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- The United States is reconsidering plans to require passports for Americans returning from the Caribbean and Central or South America, officials said Wednesday.
"They are looking again at the timeline" on the planned changes, Homeland Security Spokesman Jarrod Agen told United Press International.
At the moment, U.S. citizens are generally allowed back into the country from any Western Hemisphere nation -- including Canada and Mexico -- if they can show a birth certificate or even driver's license, though the latter document does not establish citizenship.
But last December's Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act mandated federal authorities to change the rules so that by Jan. 1, 2008, a passport "or other secure identity document" would be required from U.S. citizens and others -- such as Canadian, Mexican or Bermudan nationals -- that can currently gain admission to the United States on the basis of a wide-range of identity documents and cards.
In April, State Department and Homeland Security officials announced that the requirement for passports would be introduced in three phases, with the first deadline -- Dec. 31, 2005 -- affecting travelers entering by sea or air from the Caribbean, Bermuda and Central or South America.
But a few days later, President Bush told reporters that he had been surprised to learn about the change, and had asked officials to take a fresh look.
Wednesday's acknowledgment that the Dec. 31 deadline had been abandoned appears to be the first concrete result of that review.
Agen said officials were also thinking hard about what else would qualify as an "other secure identity document" under the terms of the law.
