Bumbling US government adds again to passport confusion
A US government effort to ease the passport backlog faltered when some Mexico-bound airline passengers could not board planes because of a lack of birth certificates.
The move was labeled “yet another embarrassment for the State Department,” said the LA Times.
In a move to lessen passport backlogs nationwide, the US government told travelers that they could visit Mexico, Canada, Bermuda and the Caribbean this summer with only a government-issued photo ID and a receipt showing that they had applied for a passport.
But when some travelers tried to board their plane, they were turned away because Mexico requires proof of US citizenship with a passport, a birth certificate or certified copy of it, or a naturalization document.
The State Department had waived passport requirements in hopes of speeding up the passport application process for all other international travel. The effort to unclog the logjam is expected to take the entire summer.
Mexicana officials said that Mexico’s entry requirement was clearly noted in the ticket information but that some passengers may have been confused by last week’s announcement of the US passport waiver, which applies only to leaving and entering the US.
Travelers who paid an extra $60 to get their U.S. passports expedited but still had to wait for them beyond the time period that they were promised can get a refund from the government, the State Department said in some good news.
The agency is expected to process 18 million passports this year, up 50% from last year, and the wait time has grown to 12 weeks or more from six weeks a year earlier, according to various reports.
The delays largely have stemmed from a new rule that requires US citizens to have passports in order to fly to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean or Bermuda.
The government last week announced that it would suspend the rule through 30 Sept., providing that travelers to those destinations bring a receipt showing they have applied for a passport. But the passport agency neglected to advise travelers that each country has its own requirements for entry.
“It’s created a lot of frustration among travelers,” said Anthony Black, a spokesman for Delta Air Lines. The carrier has had to turn away passengers, though the exact number was not immediately clear. “It’s unfortunate because in order to protect the passengers we had to deny them boarding.”
The White House defended its decision to enact the temporary waiver.
“My sense is that it will assist the vast majority of individuals who might have applied for a passport,” said Russ Knocke, spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees U.S. customs operations.
Report by David Wilkening
David
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