The members of Alpha Delta Phi ran into trouble when crossing into Canada for their annual trip to the Toronto chapter, and next year's trip isn't looking any easier.

"We pulled up to the border and gave them our drivers' licenses," said Alpha Delta Phi fraternity member Ted MacDonald (junior-electrical engineering). "They gave us a really hard time about not having passports."

The stricter border entry is part of The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, passed in 2004.

Beginning Dec. 31, 2006, all trips between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Bermuda, by sea or air, will require passports, said Les Jones, assistant chief patrol agent at the Spokane Border Patrol sector in Washington, D.C.

Beginning Dec. 31, 2007, all travel to and from bordering countries by land will also require a passport. This includes highly traveled cities within driving distance of the border, such as Toronto and Tijuana, Mexico.

Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are not included as part of the act because they are U.S. territories, Jones added.

None of the members of Alpha Delta Phi, which is not a part of the Interfraternity Council, brought their passports this year, MacDonald said.

Most don't even have a passport, he added.

"They searched our car and ran a background check on all of our drivers' licenses," he said.

Although traveling to Canada doesn't require a passport yet, border patrol stressed the importance of getting a passport to the fraternity members, MacDonald said.

"Since Sept. 11, folks who work at the border have been a lot more cautious about who crosses in and out of America," Jones said. "It's much easier to counterfeit a driver's license than a passport. Some states still use laminated licenses."

He said travelers with only a driver's license can still cross the border until 2008, but a passport makes the process much more efficient.

Alaina Scalercio, branch manager for STA Travel, said she has been recommending all year that students get passports early.

Scalercio, who estimated that 200 students traveled to Mexico for spring break through STA Travel, said most were unaware of the upcoming change to border crossing.

"A lot of people think that they'll be able to get into Mexico without a passport next year," she said.

Those without passports would be allowed to purchase a $50 border-crossing card, also known as a laser visa, for travel between Canada and the United States.

However, a survey shows that most Americans are not interested in paying that amount.

According to a Zogby International poll, 55 percent of Americans said they would get the card only if there were no cost, Communications Director Fritz Wenzel said.

Thirty percent of those polled said they would pay no more than $25 for the card, he added.

"I would just get a passport," MacDonald said. "It doesn't seem worth it to get the border-crossing card."

Students applying for a passport should be sure to bring the following required items: proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate, a naturalization certificate or an expired passport; two recent 2-inch-by-2-inch photographs and a driver's license.