New border-crossing rules that take effect in February are expected to mean longer lines and stiffer demands for ID, including for returning Americans, according to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

A driver’s license will no longer be good enough to get Americans past a checkpoint at the Canadian or Mexican border. A passport or birth certificate will be needed. The new rules are being criticized by congressional representatives of northern border states who say such extra security would be inconvenient.

Of course it will be more inconvenient than before. It will be particularly inconvenient for criminals trying to get through, but for the rest of us, it’s always taken a passport to go to another country beyond Canada or Mexico anyway. In this case, just a birth certificate will suffice. Is that so terrible? I’m for this law.

This will no doubt result in more illegal crossings, but now that there’s political pressure to get the Border Fence built because of the pending election, it’s completion will be a great help in stemming the tide and then this new border crossing law will prove its merit.

Meanwhile, the Mexican government is finally putting serious effort into cleaning up on the border town drug cartels. It’s easy to think a war is going on within Mexico with “jeeps with .50-caliber machine guns mounted on top while fighter jets from the Mexican navy fly reconnaissance missions overhead. Gunbattles between federal forces and drug-cartel members carrying rocket-propelled-grenade launchers have taken place over the past two weeks in border towns like Rio Bravo and Tijuana, with deadly results.”

Apparently, after years of ignoring this steadily worsening problem, our pending election has resulted in some discourse between the White House and Mexico. Succeeding Mexican presidents have shown little interest in dealing with this so I attribute this to political pressure. Certainly the Republican Party needs all the positive news it can garner during this election year but it is dismaying that protecting our borders is a political football rather than a security given. Find a greatly expanded view of all this at Right Truth

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email brianbonner90-at-gmail-dot-com and let us know at what level you would like to participate.

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