Policy-Discussion

["Ian G (Audit)" <iang AT cacert.org>]

On 21/2/09 13:18, Duane at e164 dot org wrote:
> Elwing wrote:
>
> > At least in the US, there are a *lot* of people who do not have
> > passports, would we prevent them from getting a CACert because of that?
> > (It's not a required identity document, merely proof of citizenship, in
> > fact, try going to a bar and showing your US passport to get in - they
> > look at you funny and ask for your driver's license)
>
> It's no longer proof of citizenship since non-citizens were getting
> them, for all international border crossings into the US, including by
> land from Canada and Mexico you now need a passport or similar document
> to prove your citizenship.


When I lived in the Caribbean, I often got stuck at the border while 
they processed the large groups of American tourists with their birth 
certificates and drivers licences...  The rule was (I am told, please 
correct me if you have a different impression) it was entirely up to the 
immigration official as to whether you were "American" and therefore 
admitted "to home".  So any piece of paper was ok.  The basic standard 
was something like DLs and birth certificates, but if you lost your 
documents, and argued the case well, you were in.

The same went for going to the Caribbean;  the real "passport" was the 
American accent and other symbols like crazy clothing and huge 
suitcases.  The Caribbean countries lobbied heavily to keep it that way 
for tourism;  They rely heavily on Americans and Canadians coming to 
visit on cheap package tours, and forcing the visitors to also get 
passports shifted a lot more of their income over to "in country" tourism.

911 seems to have set the scene for changing that and bringing the USA 
into line with other "rich island states" like Britain and Australia, 
but it is surprising how long it took to happen.



iang

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