Karahd, I read this today and found it interesting. It supports your disagreement with the policy of checking passports:

http://boortz.com/nuze/200504/04062005.html

TIGHTENING THE BORDER

This is a complete joke. In order to somehow combat terrorism, rules are being revised and now passports are going to be required to re-enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, Panama and Bermuda by 2008. Right now, rules require only that a government-issued photo ID (like a driver's license) be required to come back from those countries. So what difference is this going to make?

Absolutely none. Other than being a huge boon to companies that take passport pictures and creating long lines at the post office, this won't stop terrorism. Why? Well, for instance...remember all of the 9/11 hijackers? They had passports. Fat lot of good that did, huh?

And what difference will requiring a passport to come back into the U.S. from Mexico matter when illegal aliens can walk right across the border by the hundreds of thousands every year? Unless and until we really tighten the border and start rounding up illegals and sending them back, border security will be a joke.
I knew the 9/11 terrorists had drivers licenses, but didn't know they had bogus passports as well.

One of the main reasons I don't support the checking of ID when you board a plane is that it does nothing to add security. All it does is fatten the wallets of the airlines because it makes it impossible for someone to sell their plane ticket to someone else if they are unable or unwilling to use it themselves. Checking ID does nothing since IDs are so easy to fake.

If I'm against that, then to be intellectually consistent I guess I have to be against this as well. Thus I need to reverse my original opinion on the matter.