John Kass’ Dec. 30 column, “American and proud of it, but try to prove it to bureaucrats,” wrongly blames the federal government, and specifically the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the U.S. Passport Agency because Jim Coy did not have the correct documentation to travel to Mexico–forcing him to miss his son’s wedding.
Although we are sympathetic to Mr. Coy’s unfortunate experience, it is difficult to understand from the column why the federal government is at fault.
Foreign governments are free to determine the requirements for U.S. citizens to enter their country just as the U.S. government establishes the criteria for foreign nationals to enter the United States. The Mexican Consulate General in Chicago would be the first place to call for entry requirements for travel to Mexico.
An additional source of information for U.S. citizens is available from the U.S. Department of State’s booklet “Foreign Entry Requirements.” It can be purchased for 50 cents from the Consumer Information Center, Pueblo, Colo. 81009, along with another helpful booklet, “Passports–Applying for Them the Easy Way.”
With a record of more than 6 million U.S. citizens applying for passports in 1997, it is difficult for our passport agency employees to take individual calls. For that reason, we have set up the National Passport Information Center at 1-900-225-5674 or 1-888-362-8668 (with a credit card). Although this service is not free, it is low-cost, efficient and reliable and gives our passport customers an opportunity to have their questions answered.
Although we are not aware of Mr. Coy requesting any type of service from the passport agency in Chicago prior to his attempted travel to Mexico, that agency has tried to contact Mr. Coy and stands ready to assist him if and when he decides to apply for a passport.
