WASHINGTON, USA (AP) – The Bush administration, facing complaints from border-state lawmakers, is considering scaling back strict passport security requirements for people who infrequently travel between the United States and Canada.

The concession may not be enough for lawmakers who want to delay rules requiring passports or other tamper-resistant ID cards for all who enter the United States beginning January 1, 2008. Canadian officials also have criticised the proposal roundly.

The administration may initially address part of what some in Washington call the “Aunt Tilly” problem, occasional visitors to Canadian border communities who might be prevented from returning to the United States because they didn’t know to bring acceptable ID. The law applies to US citizens and foreign visitors alike.

“We are working on that, we’re concerned about that, and the last thing we want to do is discourage traffic,” Jim Williams, director of a Homeland Security Department programme that monitors international travel to the United States, said in an interview. “We’ve got to come up with solutions that meet people’s needs.”

Specific plans are still being worked out. Williams said the administration was looking at issuing short-term passes, or one-day passes, for legitimate border travellers who have neither a passport nor the proposed “PASS” card that is being developed.

To people who repeatedly try to cross the border without the right identification, however, “We might say, ‘Look, we won’t let you back in if you continue to do this and not get a passport or card’,” Williams said. “We don’t want to discourage that person’s travel, but, on the other hand, we want to move people to where we can identify them.”

The ID rules were part of a 2004 intelligence overhaul law, overwhelmingly approved by Congress, to tighten US borders against terrorists. They have since pitted lawmakers from border states against those from the heartland, strained relations with Canada, and forced Homeland Security to roll out technology and training under a deadline that may prove too aggressive to meet.

Objections were highlighted last week by Canadian Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, who questioned Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff over whether the rules would be ready.

“Obviously I raised concerns, some of the same questions that you raised, in terms of, is it feasible?” Day told reporters in Washington. “Those are concerns of interest, those are concerns neighbours raise because they might be concerned about what their neighbour is doing.”