Ch 7: New U.S. border rules take effect for land and sea entry”{0}
Beginning June 1, 2009,entry to the United States through neighboring borders by land and sea requires a passport, which includes a RFID chip in it. Since January 2007, the law requires that re-entry to the United States through air travel must use a passport. All new passport are chipped with RFID chips.
This new law is designed to strengthen homeland security. Also it speeds up the process of reentering the country. Officials are able to scan the passports from a distance and view the person’s information before the car pulls up to the booths. With millions of people, that’s a lot of time saved. The scanning of the RFID chip does not display any personally identifiable information, just a number. It does not invade a person’s privacy.
Opposers to this law are the shops who depend on travelers and the travel industry. They fear people would rather stay in their home country than to spend money on a passport. People who don’t know about the new law change will still be able to reenter, but the process will be much longer and tedious. In the past, you are able to use your drivers license to cross borders. Now, besides a passport, there is only the option of enrolling in three “trusted travelers” program whose cards are acceptable or an enhanced drivers license equipped with a RFID chip to cross borders.
source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/06/01/us.canada.border.rules/index.html