U.S. plans to start tracking Americans who travel abroad

WASHINGTON — The federal government yesterday issued a new rule designed to track foreign visitors and, for the first time, Americans who travel abroad.

Millions of travelers who come and go each year from the United States will be required to provide personal information to their carriers, who will pass it along to immigration officials. That information will be sent to government agencies and plugged into security databases to help detect terrorists.

All commercial airlines, cargo flights, cruise ships and other vessels carrying crew or passengers would be affected, with the exception of most ferry boats. Private transportation is not affected, nor are commercial buses or trains.

Susan Harris of the Washington State Ferries confirmed yesterday that state ferries might be exempt from the ruling, according to a recent letter her organization received from the U.S. Customs Service.

The ferry system has one international run, from Anacortes to Sidney, B.C., that operates twice daily in the summer and once daily the rest of the year.

"The reason (for the possible exemption) is that we're a public-transportation entity and our trips lasts about 2-½ to three hours," Harris said. "It's a very short trip."

Darrell Bryan, executive vice president and general manager of The Victoria Clipper passenger-ferry service, said most travelers recognize the need for increased security measures. But that needs to be done without impacting the tourism industry or the convenience of travel, he said.

Passenger information that must be submitted before boarding includes name, date of birth, citizenship, gender, passport number and country of residence. International visitors must provide a U.S. visa number and address while in the United States. Foreign residents must provide an "alien registration number." For years, international travelers have been required to fill out forms detailing their arrival and departure from countries around the world. Before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the main goal was to speed travelers through Customs.

The U.S. government, however, has not previously required its own citizens to submit such forms and never required forms from departing travelers. Canadians, permanent resident aliens and certain other people also were exempted.

Not all information will be required in every case. For example, a Canadian would not need to provide passport information because one isn't required for a U.S. visit.

"It will just be another step to allow immigration officials to know everyone who comes into or goes from the United States ... to enhance national security," said Chris Bentley, of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).

The public will have a month to comment on the plan, and final regulations will take effect this year. The American Civil Liberties Union, which has criticized many Bush administration anti-terrorism information-gathering efforts, said the rules should not impinge on people's privacy.

"We don't see a huge downside," spokeswoman Emily Whitfield said.

However, other civil-liberties advocates said a series of security measures imposed since the 2001 attacks have raised concerns about potential government abuse.

"You need to see this in the larger context of vastly expanded government information collection and data-mining," said David Sobel, general counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a civil-liberties watchdog group.

"We are unfortunately quickly moving to a situation where the government is going to be maintaining a vast database of personal information that is going to be widely accessible to various agencies. ...

"There's also the question: Is there a real security advantage to this kind of requirement? ... The 9/11 hijackers did not travel under false identities. I'm not sure how this approach would solve problems that existed prior to the attack."

Officials in the cruise and airline industries said the changes will be costly and could result in initial delays and inconveniences for passengers. The INS estimates the rules will affect 108 large commercial air carriers and ship lines and more than 14,400 smaller carriers of both kinds. Initial costs to the private sector are pegged at $166 million.

"It'll be a little tricky at first, but I don't see any major problems," said David O'Connor, U.S. director for the International Air Transport Association.

Industry officials agreed that the departure rules will present the most problems. Inbound ships and planes have an easier task because they have a manifest of the crew and passengers on board, while those departing often must juggle last-minute passengers and delays caused by late-arriving connecting flights.

"For people on board, in your system, you have them there and you can readily get the information," said Michael Crye, president of the International Council of Cruise Lines. "For departures, it can provide a little bit of a bottleneck."

The INS says it will forgo collection of proposed $1,000-per-passenger fines until the rule is made permanent and then may forgive them through the end of the year if an airline or shipping company is making a good-faith effort to comply.

Congress mandated the changes in legislation that was signed into law by President Bush in May. The law also tightened rules governing the issuance of visas to visitors and students coming to the United States and added Border Patrol officers.

Seattle Times staff reporter Michael Ko contributed to this report.