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by ROBERT M. COOK
It's not clear how long New Hampshire and Maine residents may have before they must show passports to move between the United States and Canada by land, but the ability to simply declare U.S. citizenship will end by January.
Passports were to be required by Jan. 31 under earlier rules, but Kelly Klundt, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency in Washington, D.C., said citizens instead only will need a driver's license and birth certificate when driving to and from Canada or Mexico after that date.
The changes at border crossings are the result of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, or WHTI, a plan created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to better control immigration and visitor flow in and out of the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security manages WHTI.
An earlier rule change went into effect on Jan. 31 this year, requiring air travelers to have passports when flying from the U.S. to Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean.
But the date of similar passport requirement for land travel is still unclear. The State Department may require passports by summer, Klundt said, but a specific date hasn't yet been chosen.
Tourism officials in the U.S. and Canada say they've been concerned their industry will suffer under the new rules. The requirements could create longer lines at border crossings and discourage trips, which could cost millions of dollars in tourism revenue, they argue.
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