CLARE

NEW YORK (CMC):

A leading Caribbean im-migration advocate in New York says the United States has set double standards with its new passport rules which require Americans re-entering the country from other parts of the Americas, including the Caribbean, to have passports.

Irwin Clare, the Jamaica-born managing director of the Queens-based Caribbean Immigrant Services, told the Caribbean Media Corporation yesterday that Washington should have set the same implementation date for travellers, whether they arrived in the U.S. by air, land or sea.

"I understand it's done from the background of security, which I have no problem with. But they exempt the cruise industry from the early date," he said. "It gives the im-pression that money can buy anything. The cruise industry had lobbied the State and Homeland Security departments very hard."

The measure for air travel should have been implemented January 1, next year but the U.S. State Department announced Wednesday that this had been pushed back to January 23.

It added that: "As early as January 1, 2008, all persons, including U.S. citizens, travelling between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda by land or sea, including ferries, may be required to present a valid passport or other documents as determined by the Department of Homeland Security."

The State Department said while recent legislative changes permit the January 23 deadline for travellers by air, the departments of State and Homeland Security are "working to meet all requirements as soon as possible."

"Ample advance notice will be provided to enable the public to obtain passports or passport cards for land/sea entries," the statement said.

Michael Chertoff, the Secretary of Homeland Security, said the new rules are geared toward deterring terrorism.