Passport Card for Land and Sea travel

Joint Announcement From The U.S. Departments Of State And Homeland Security On Passport Card Production

Release Date: July 22, 2008

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010

The U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced today that the new U.S. Passport Card is in full production and is now being distributed. The Passport Card is a convenient, wallet-sized document for land and sea travel between the United States and Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. It is not valid for international travel by air.

Beginning in June 2009, travelers will be required to present a single Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative-compliant document denoting both citizenship and identity when entering the United States through a land or sea border.

More than 350,000 Americans pre-ordered the U.S. Passport Cards since the State Department began taking orders on February 1. Over 7,600 cards have already been mailed to advance customers, and all pre-orders are expected to be filled by September 30, 2008. After that initial distribution, the processing time for passport cards should be the same as for passport books – less than four weeks. Customers will be able to track the progress of their passport card application online beginning in mid-August.

The passport card will facilitate the frequent travel of Americans living in border communities by utilizing a vicinity-read radio frequency identification (RFID) chip. With this technology, DHS' U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers will be able to access photographs and other biographical information stored in secure government databases before the traveler reaches the inspection booth so that inspection can be facilitated. For privacy protection, no personal information is stored on the electronic chip itself. The chip will have only a unique number pointing to a stored record contained in secure government databases.

"We are pleased to offer Americans a choice of documents, the traditional passport book, and now the passport card, to meet their personal needs for international travel," said Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Janice L. Jacobs. "The passport card is the newest addition to the Department's long history of providing secure, reliable services to the American traveling public."

"We have been working closely with the U.S. Department of State to be able to provide another type of secure identification that is vital to protecting our nation's borders" said Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Policy Stewart Baker. "The new passport cards will help facilitate legitimate travel while allowing our frontline personnel to focus more on those who may pose a threat."

The Passport Card is available for $45 for first-time adult applicants and $35 for children under 16. Adults who currently have valid passports can apply for the passport card by mail for $20.

Information on how to apply for a U.S. Passport Card or the traditional passport book is at travel.state.gov.

An Older link re DHS and small boaters

DHS may target small boats for RFID by Alice Lipowicz

The nation’s 18 million recreational boaters may need to register their crafts in a national database and place radio frequency identification tags on their vessels under plans put forth by a stakeholders group convened by the Homeland Security Department.

The new identification and security possibilities are outlined in the report from the DHS National Small Vessel Security Summit, published by the department and recently posted on its Web site. The report was written for DHS by Charles Brownstein, task force leader of the Homeland Security Institute, a nonprofit research group.

The department invited 260 people from the private and commercial boating community and government agencies to the first small vessel summit in June to identify and develop recommendations for recreational-boat security. Terrorism experts have identified a threat to U.S. coastlines and security from possible smuggling of materials and terrorists in such vessels.

The summit report indicates disagreement among recreational boaters on whether and how to use technologies for identification and registration. Recreational boaters participating in the summit objected to expanding the Automatic Identification System run by the Coast Guard to include small craft because it would be costly and impractical. The system currently applies to commercial boats over 65 feet in length.

But the boaters left the door open for limited use of the identification system, for RFID tags on vessels and for the Coast Guard’s Vessel Identification System national boat registration system.

“Some stakeholders did see limited application for the Automated Identification System or similar technology in the vicinity of high-value/high-risk assets within limited geographic bounds in a port or waterway. The Vessel Identification System, RFID technologies and other systems were also mentioned as potential low-cost solutions that might be an acceptable alternative to vessel tracking,” the report said.

Similarly controversial were expanding requirements for operator identification and vessel registration. The boaters were worried about inappropriate requirements that infringe on their civil liberties, cost too much and are too inconvenient, the report said.

Boaters were opposed to new identification requirements as well, but government executives participating in the summit seemed to favor that solution, the report said.

“Several government attendees advocated the development of a nationwide database of U.S. numbered and documented vessels to be used by federal, state and local law enforcement authorities to access boat registration information across the country. They also expressed a need to have uniform boating registration standards shared by all states,” the report said.

The stakeholders also made recommendations for fusion centers to share maritime intelligence, improved situational awareness for boaters, more mechanisms to report suspicious activity and expanded use of technologies to identify radiological and nuclear threats.

If the plans move forward, many of the ideas outlined by the stakeholders group present opportunities for contractors involved in database management, identification management, identity cards, information sharing and RFID. There also may be opportunities for biometrics, systems integrators and other information technology solutions providers.

The Coast Guard hosted a Great Lakes Small Vessel Security Summit in Cleveland on Jan. 15.

A link to the report in the second paragraph.

http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/small_vessel_NSVSS_Report_HQ_508.pdf

Old news, but still relevant to us today.

Surveillance

Here's a short piece on surveillance that cuts right to the meat of the matter.

http://barryeisler.com/extras_surveillance.php

All crime has a surveillance phase, even if it is just a quick glance about to see who's watching.

All travelers should be aware of their surroundings, to avoid or alert themselves of impending dangers.

Drownproofing

Today, let's look at "protection" from a slightly different perspective.

This time, we are not beset by bloodthirsty, crazed narco-terrorist pirates or a thief attempting to enter the salon. Let's expand the definition of protection to.... I fell off the damn boat.

Do you know how to "protect" yourself in the event of that unfortunate turn of events?

Or do your children and loved ones know how to stay afloat until you execute the required maneuvers to pick them up?

Take a look at the following web page, let me know what you think.

http://www.drownproofing.com/

Unbreakable Umbrella

From the blog of an acquaintance. A very good item to have in your arsenal

http://feraljundi.com/2008/07/25/cool-stuff-the-unbreakable-umbrella/

He has a great blog concerning security contracting and cool stuff. Always a pleasure to read his posts.

Part of a growing trend

Illegal entry: Two dozen Cubans caught on Florida pleasure boat

By IBI Magazine

Twenty-eight Cubans trying to illegally enter the US were arrested last weekend, after a Florida deputy sheriff stopped a smuggler's boat for a routine inspection. The incident is the latest in the increased use of pleasure boats to smuggle Cubans into the US.

According to a story in the Palm Beach Post, a marine patrol deputy stopped a 1988 46ft (14m) Sea Ray near St Lucie Inlet State Park in the St Lucie River after midnight. When the deputy sheriff tried to board the boat, it sped off.

Ruben Hernandez, the owner of the boat, ran for about a mile before stopping at a dock. About two dozen of the people on board tried to get off the boat and make it to shore.

Under US policy, known as "wet foot, dry foot", Cuban refugees who touch US soil before they are captured are allowed to stay in the country. But those who are caught at sea are returned.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials took into custody 17 men, five women and one boy who tried to make it to shore. Five Cubans who stayed on the boat were turned over to the US Coast Guard and will be returned to Cuba.

The incident is part of a growing trend of smugglers using large cruisers or high-speed powerboats to move Cubans into Florida. Local law authorities have reported a rash of boat thefts in the last year, which they attribute to the rise in human trafficking. Smugglers, according to news reports, charge Cubans tens of thousands of dollars for passage to the US.

Hernandez was charged with resisting an officer with violence, and reckless operation of a vessel. He will also face charges from immigration officials.

(23 July 2008)

This is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Boat theft from Florida is on the increase. Take care of your craft - if you need assistance, drop me a line. We here at Maritime Vital Asset Protection, LLC, are ready to lend you a hand protecting your most precious assets - your vessel(s) and the people who use them.

Don

Albinus of Angers, patron saint against pirate attacks

Albinus had a big heart (as saints tend to have) and couldn’t resist a call of distress. He used church money to free hostages from pirates. Obviously, pirate attacks aren’t very common today, but in the 10th century, St. Albinus came in handy for the people of the walled town of Guerande. They had gotten word that pirates were on their way to attack the village and immediately started to pray to St. Albinus. The attackers were mysteriously deterred and the town was saved.

My source for this is http://www.neatorama.com/2008/07/07/eight-patron-saints-you-may-or-may-not-need/

Thanks to Master At Arms James A Keating (http://www.jamesakeating.com/maajak1.html) for his great resource site.

Any comments? Drop me a line here. Thanks for stopping by.

Don