The Bush administration came into scathing criticism after announcing for the second time in a month that officials have scaled back security plans in response to complaints.
The government will delay for at least six months a rule that Americans present passports when crossing the US border by land or sea, officials said.
Beginning in January, land and sea travelers returning from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda will be allowed to present a birth certificate and driver’s license in lieu of a passport.
Homeland Security Secretary (DHS) Michael Chertoff announced the proposed rules and new flexibility after a passport requirement for air travel to those countries produced months-long delays in processing passport applications at the State Department.
Even as recently as last week, DHS officials had insisted in the face of a public outcry that they were going forward with the tougher regulations on land and sea crossings starting in January.
“We are not going to drop the ax on Jan. 1, 2008,” said Mr Chertoff. “We’ve come to understand that it’s important to build flexibility in our systems.”
The announcement that officials would ease into the new rule was greeted with scorn by lawmakers critical of the agency, reported the AP.
Rep. Thomas Reynolds, R-N.Y., called it “more of the same bureaucratic doublespeak.”
“They ask us to trust them to get this right. Frankly these two agencies haven’t earned the trust of this Congress or the American people,” said Mr Reynolds.
The impending rule in January has rankled those living on the northern border, where people frequently cross into Canada for casual shopping and sports events.
That anger spread to all sections of the country in recent months as travelers faced a logistical nightmare of trying to get passports in time for travel. The waiting time for passports soared from around six weeks to more than three months, delaying or ruining the travel plans of thousands of Americans.
Chertoff, who in February pronounced the program was proceeding “flawlessly,” called the current delays “a hiccup.”
“I’m obviously dismayed that there was a problem in producing passports,” he said.
Report by David Wilkening
