The Bush administration is expected to announce on Thursday that it will exempt children from new rules that will require people to show passports when entering the U.S. at land or sea borders.
The new passport requirements are expected to take effect as soon as January 2008. But under the expected announcement, children aged 15 or younger with parental consent will be allowed to cross the borders at land and sea entry points with a certified copy of their birth certificates rather than passports.
Children aged 16 through 18 traveling with school, religious, cultural or athletic groups and under adult supervision will also be allowed to travel with only their birth certificates.
The details were described by a Department of Homeland Security official who requested anonymity because the announcement has not yet been made.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was expected to announce the relaxation in rules at a speech in Detroit on Thursday afternoon.
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