U.S. Department of Homeland Security Sec. Michael Chertoff said that production of the new Pass Card is set to begin this month and 200,000 applications for the new travel document have been submitted. Chertoff made the comments during the State of Immigration Address with U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.
“What these cards are going to do is not be more reliable, but they will be faster, because instead of having to read a driver’s license, there will be a machine-readable only,” Chertoff said. “You can simply zip through a machine-reader, which will make the process and times faster.”
The Passport Card uses radio frequency identification technology. While RFID comes in many different flavors – some can be read from a great distance while others can only be read from less than an inch – the type chosen for this project is in the former category. It can be read from 15 to 20 feet and is designed to expedite travel over land border crossings.
The chip doesn’t contain information other than a number that acts as a pointer to a record on a secure database that will contain the cardholder’s photo and other biographic information. As a cardholder approaches the border crossing the card is placed on the dashboard and is read as he approaches the checkpoint. When the car pulls up to the border official he will already have reviewed the information and there is little left to do before the passenger can go on his way. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/archive-4.gif)
