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| Birth Certificates ?? - Friday, January 18, 2008 at 10:13:03 AM
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Ok, It's time for a little rant..
We all know there are going to be new rules at the border soon. Now while I suppose it is handy that a Birth Certificate is an allowed form of ID along with your Drivers License it seems to me that Birth Certificates are about the most worthless pieces of identification on the planet.
Everyone's looks different.. some are little white pieces of paper, some are bigger and different colors, most seem to have some sort of seal, they fall apart the more they get looked at as they have no protection from the elements. People sometimes keep them in their wallets and they eventually just become dust.
It just seems really stupid to me that this piece of shit form of identification should have any value in the current world that we live in. How on earth is someone supposed to know if one of these is real or not? It Seems to me that because none of them are the same that it is one of the easier things to counterfeit ??
Now I do realize that there is information on a Birth Certificate that law enforcement can use to do some checks on you and I do realize that a Birth Certificate is needed to get a passport. At least in those scenarios someone is taking time to really look them over, but please it's a piece of paper with a stamped seal.
Moving on... I think I saw either my mom's or my dad's Birth Certificate and it looked like something someone could make up in about 15 minutes. Even my own would be easy to make up provided you had the right kind of paper and a fake seal. Certainly way easier than making up a counterfeit drivers license or something. I am looking at mine right now and besides smelling and looking old it is not very impressive. Why should a customs agent even be wasting his time looking at these things? Is it because it is better than nothing.
The bottom line is that I find it a total joke that they want us to think they take security seriously (as of January 31st 2008) yet they allow a Birth Certificate to take the place of something like a passport. In the past I have even seen them accept photocopied Birth Certificates from people at the border ?
Maybe I am totally wrong for feeling this way ? Maybe it's less about the Birth Certificate being fake and more about the information on it being real ? Maybe there are things I am not aware of or haven't thought of.
How can a totally oudated form of identification that is many decades old with few if any improvements even be considerd a serious part of a modern border checkpoint system?
If someone has more information please add it as I would like to know. I know we have at least one former customs guy on here and maybe he has some intelligent thoughts to add. |
| Comments by ''Uncle Mike'' from United States on Saturday, January 19, 2008 at 8:39:59 PM - IP Logged |
You don't need to spend $100+ to get a passport for travel to and from Canada.
A new US Passport Card available in Spring 2008. The Department of State is issuing this passport card in response to the needs of border resident communities for a less expensive and more portable alternative to the traditional passport book. The card will have the same validity period as a passport book: 10 years for an adult, five for children 15 and younger. For adults who already have a passport book, they may apply for the card as a passport renewal and pay only $20. First-time applicants will pay $45 for adult cards and $35 for children.
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| Comments by ''wardog'' from United States on Saturday, January 19, 2008 at 5:18:55 PM - IP Logged |
| we're so far from the begining steps toward gustapo-like checkpoints with some guy with a German accent saying ... "let me see your papers " . this is just the next step . I'm not sure if at present I can even prove that I am me . Dang
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| Comments by ''curmudgeon'' from United States on Friday, January 18, 2008 at 9:51:49 PM - IP Logged |
You're right, Chris...the birth certificate is a poor piece of ID. You don't even know if the info on your own is correct. You were just a little sh*t when it was issued. You have only your mother's word on it.
A "national ID" is the goal of DHS, although every time it is brought up, there is an uproar (for good reasons)from civil libertarians.
In the interim, a scannable govt issued ID, such as a driver's license, supported by a birth certificate, is the compromise, for now.
I finally gave up trying to second guess them and renewed my old passport. The wait time is down to a couple weeks.
Here's the part that chaps my hide. If a driver's license and a birth certificate is good enough to get a passport, why isn't it going to be good enough to cross the border?
The taxpayers are spending a lot of money training border officers (16 weeks in Georgia) to determine citizenship at the border, while an untrained postal clerk is doing the same thing on "Passport Saturday at the Post Office."
Also, A new passport and photo is going to set you back about $110.
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| Comments by ''lowrider'' from United States on Friday, January 18, 2008 at 8:29:19 PM - IP Logged |
Last time I went across the border (which was about a month ago) I had no problem getting into Canada...However it was a much different scenario trying to get back into my country. When asked for my birth certificate, I along with all the other people in my car handed the booth attendant our drivers licenses to which he responded...
"what does this tell me?"
To which I answered...
"It tells you that I do in fact have a birth certificate, considering you need to have one to get a New York State drivers license, and also that I can drive legally in New York State".
I don't think he liked my sarcasm, but he let us go after making us tell him how we knew each other and under what circumstances we came to meet each other.
Those guys and their inflated sense of importance really piss me off.
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| Comments by ''Beemer'' from United States on Friday, January 18, 2008 at 6:44:19 PM - IP Logged |
I had always bondered too why birth certificates can be forms of I.D., being no photos are on the paper, no signature (besides parents), no addresses, etc.
Personally, I dont think it's a form of I.D., it's a form just to prove you are alive.
Because standing there in front of them doesn't mean you've ever been born... LOL
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| Comments by ''Peter'' from United States on Friday, January 18, 2008 at 4:28:21 PM - IP Logged |
| Umm Crabby... read about the new rules that go into effect on January 31st 2008.. seems you're partially missing the point of this news item..
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| Comments by ''crabbyappleton'' from United States on Friday, January 18, 2008 at 4:15:23 PM - IP Logged |
| I never even had a birth certificate until last year...I was adopted. I know that they have said that a birth certificate is not good at various times. No photo? How do they know who is who? What if you didn't have a driver's license or a photo ID? Would they just let you through with a birth certificate? I feel safe!
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| Comments by ''SoCal Mike'' from United States on Friday, January 18, 2008 at 12:03:02 PM - IP Logged |
3 words
- Photoshop, Scanner, Internet.
I feel you on this one Brother, it's retarded. I don't even have my original all I have is a copy. I last word Dumbasses - if in fact that is one word :)
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