May I Travel Please? Prior Restraint Comes to the Travel World

Prior restraint was an oft debated topic in the 70's, a time which saw heightened concern over U. S. Government attempts to prevent critical materials from being published. It is now back in the news--and the travel news at that. If the Department of Homeland Security has its way, passengers won't be able to travel without asking permission from a U. S. Government agency. According to Ed Hasbrouck's Practical Nomad Blog:

The USA Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed that airlines cruise lines, and operators of all other ships and planes -- including charter flights, air taxis, fishing vessels, etc. -- be required to get individual permission ("clearance") from the DHS for each passenger on all flights or ocean voyages to, from, or via the USA. Unless the answer is "Yes" -- if the answer is "no" or "maybe", or if the DHS doesn’t answer at all -- the airline wouldn’t be allowed to give you a boarding pass, or let you or your luggage on the plane.

Most of the objections to the proposal come from Airlines, who worry about costs and glitches that could snarl transportation for hours, if not days.

The comment period of the proposal is past, but the issue is just coming to light in the blog world. U. S. citizens, who have previously been granted free rights to travel under a U.S. Passport, seem quite dissatisfied--for the most part they're either hopping mad or resigned to the fact that citizen's rights are collapsing under enormous pressure from the weight of legislation allegedly designed to make life safe(er).

Slashdot coverage has drawn almost 1000 comments at time of writing. You'll also find coverage at the Friends of Liberty, and Papers, Please!, which contains an excellent discussion of the issues.

The summary and links at the Practical Nomad are probably your best starting point to understanding the issue: Permission to Travel, where you'll find links to the proposal and PDF files of comments submitted.