It seems that United States passports are in the news a lot lately and recently there was an incident report involving the Iroquois lacrosse team.  They were going to England to compete in the World Championships.  They were not permitted to leave because they possessed Iroquois passports.

While other team members were from Canada and the United States, this team of Iroquois Native Americans is members of the Iroquois Nation.  The Iroquois Nation has been issuing their own passports to call attention to the Iroquois culture and heritage.  Since they did not have an American or Canadian passport, they were denied entrance into the United Kingdom and could not compete.  They were saved at the last minute by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who issued a one-time waiver for the team so they could reenter the United States but the United Kingdom did not validate this waiver.

There are a few different views on this matter.  More and more, countries are taking the position that they will only accept official passports issued from the United States or Canada because since these native Americans are citizens, they should use the documents used by other citizens.  There is also a security problem with the Iroquois passport as they do not have the anti-fraud   features that are present on the other passports. This could put other travelers at risk if these passports fall into the hands of the wrong person.

There are others who feel that tradition has been for the Iroquois to issue their own passports for reasons of pride and these have always been sufficient in the past and their validity should be continued.  However, we all know that times are changing and never before has the threat of terrorism been so great.  While the Iroquois Nation feels they are being singled out and should not be considered a risk, the lack of anti-fraud technology on the passports make them a potential problem.

The game of lacrosse was created by the Iroquois Indians long ago so they take a lot of pride in the sport.  With the cancellation of their own passports, they were forced to get a passport quick and this was very demeaning to them.  A view held by coach echoes the sentiments that this type of treatment goes against the free expression of the native American Indian heritage and can cost the team the opportunity to play in the championship game of the sport that was their idea in the first place.

The laws surrounding U.S. passports are surprisingly vague when it comes to issues like this. For example, a recent story in the news talks about how 4,500 sex criminals were issued passports in order to travel abroad. In these sorts of cases, it seems difficult to create and enforce laws to restrict or allow international travel. Is being forced to get a new passport quick an unfair measure? Has this been turned into an unnecessary political excuse to butt international heads? How do you feel about this issue? Should the once-accepted passports of the Iroquois Nation be turned down in order to further prevent National Security risks?