NEW ID REQUIREMENTS TO CROSS THE BORDER

As of yesterday, those wishing to cross the border from Canada into the United States, will need to show either a valid passport or two pieces of governement issued identification, such as a drivers license and a citizneship card. Minors will require a passport or a birth certificate. The following was highlighted in today's New Yrok Times:

New Rule at the Canadian Border: Two IDs, Please

By Anahad O'Connor

While the Democrats and Republicans continue to draw attention to the finer points of border safety by duking it out at presidential primary debates, the Department of Homeland Security has been going ahead with some tougher policies on the ground.
Beginning today, people wishing to enter the United States from Canada will no longer be allowed to do so simply by declaring that they are American or Canadian citizens and then showing a driver’s license to back it up. Though passports and visas will still not be required for such travelers, under a new regulation, people who don’t have their passports with them will now have to show a second piece of government-issued ID — like a birth certificate or naturalization certificate — to prove their citizenship. Birth certificates will be needed for children without passports, too.
The change has been in the works for months, in large part because of questions about border safety and lax immigration policies in the wake of the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. But there are widespread concerns that the new identification requirements have not been publicized enough, and may simply confuse Americans expecting to cross the border as they have always done.
Earlier this week, 19 United States senators wrote a letter to the department, protesting the new measure and arguing that it could disrupt commerce and severely inconvenience travelers. A number of businesses and foreign governments have also been lobbying against the changes.
Those concerns may have slowed the implementation of the new measure, but they ultimately failed. And judging by early reports, things are going fairly smoothly on the first day of the new rules, with one Washington State border post reporting 90 percent compliance.
Still, homeland security officials say they are making a greater effort to publicize the changes. And in a country obsessed with recording artists and shows like “American Idol,” they believe they have found the perfect spokeswoman: a country singer. In a new public service announcement, Shirley Myers, Canadian by birth but based in Nashville, sings about the documents Americans will need to cross the borders:
“Know before you come or go, / it just makes common sense –The key to crossing smoothly / is in your documents.”