By Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
New Zeal
April 27, 2011
Do you remember the legislation that now dictates that passports must be shown at US land borders? It went into effect on June 1, 2009 I believe. That’s almost two years ago. Here is a link to the old passport application form. When this became law, many of us shrugged it off with the reasoning that is was for homeland security and that it was logical to show papers to get back into the country to prove who you were and that you were a documented American. Now I wonder…
I live about 100 miles from the Canadian border. Just a few years ago, we could drive over the border just by showing our driver’s license. We might have to submit to a brief car inspection and a rude border guard, but that was about it. Now, it’s “papers please!”
When I first heard on the Glenn Beck show on the radio yesterday about the new proposed passport forms, I instantly got very angry at what I perceived as a fourth amendment infringement on our rights. I then proceeded to look up the form and research it. That is why I did not post until today. I wanted to get my facts straight and cool off a bit before racing into battle. My conclusion – I have never had a passport in my life, but always intended to get one. It may very well be that I can now never get one and I was born and raised in America. I grew up as a construction brat and we moved an average of four times a year. There is no way I can ever find out all the schools I went to and all the places I have lived. In my life, I have worked at casinos and applied for security clearances as well. They only asked for the last 10 years. What the government is now asking for, effectively bans me from ever getting a passport. It bans me from traveling legally over the Canadian border as well. I find myself a prisoner in my own homeland. I am beyond furious over this.
Biographical Questionnaire for a U.S. Passport
I don't believe this form will pass. There are too many questions that too many people would not be able to answer. ie. adopted children, children of deceased parents, etc. I don't believe this form could stand up in the court system.
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