[IP] U.S. to Mandate Fingerprinting and Photos of More Foreigners [here we go... djf]
[ I assume that we will then sign a treaty with all these countries to
trade fingerprints and photos with each other and then all travelers will
have fingerprints on file. djf]
U.S. to Mandate Fingerprinting and Photos of More Foreigners
April 3, 2004
By RACHEL L. SWARNS
WASHINGTON, April 2 - The Department of Homeland Security
announced on Friday that it planned to require travelers
from 27 industrialized nations, including longtime allies
like Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Japan and Australia,
to be photographed and electronically fingerprinted when
they arrive in the United States.
Officials described the move as a critical security measure
intended to protect the country from future terrorist
attacks. Once the program goes into effect, by Sept. 30, at
115 airports and 14 seaports around the nation, only
diplomats, Canadians and Mexicans carrying border cards,
which are typically used for 72-hour visits to the United
States, will be exempt from the new rules.
Under an existing program, airport inspectors began
photographing and fingerprinting travelers who need visas
to visit the United States in January.
The new decision would extend that requirement to tourists
from 22 European countries and Brunei, Singapore, Japan,
Australia and New Zealand, who can currently travel to the
United States for up to 90 days without a visa. Because
they are required to carry visas, students and other
visitors from those nations who stay for more than three
months have already been subjected to the new security
measures.
Asa Hutchinson, an undersecretary of the Department of
Homeland Security, said intelligence reports indicated that
terrorists might take advantage of the loophole that allows
travelers from Europe and other industrialized nations to
travel to the United States with little scrutiny.
Zacarias Moussaoui, the only suspect charged in the
terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, traveled to the United
States on a French passport, and at least two of the people
arrested in last month's bombings in Madrid carried Spanish
passports.
Mr. Hutchinson said the Bush administration had already
discussed these concerns with officials in the 27 nations
and said the new requirements would not come as "any
particular surprise."
He said he did not believe the move would deter tourists
from visiting the United States, but acknowledged that some
countries might retaliate by instituting tough new
requirements for Americans traveling abroad. He went on to
say the Bush administration would applaud such decisions
from foreign leaders.
"We welcome other countries moving to this kind of system,"
Mr. Hutchinson said at a news conference on Friday. "We
fully expect that other countries will adopt similar
procedures. We recognize that it's a two-way street."
Homeland security officials said that 2.5 million
visa-carrying travelers have been screened since the new
program began on Jan. 5 and emphasized that the program has
run smoothly so far. But airport and travel executives
warned that the decision could overwhelm inspectors and
result in a slump in the number of international travelers,
which plunged after the Sept. 11 attacks and has only begun
to recover.
"We're very concerned about the potential for negative
reaction from those markets," said Rick Webster, director
of government affairs at the Travel Industry Association of
America, which represents the nation's largest airlines,
hotels, cruise lines and car rental companies.
In 2002, almost 13 million of the 19 million overseas
visitors to the United States came from the 27 countries
affected by Friday's decision. Tourists from just four of
those nations, Britain, France, Germany and Japan, spent
$22.2 billion in the United States that year, accounting
for one-third of all spending by overseas visitors,
according to Mr. Webster's group.
Several countries whose citizens are required to have visas
to travel to the United States have already retaliated.
This week, China announced that it was barring Americans
from applying for last-minute visas at Chinese airports and
was requiring some Americans to be interviewed before
receiving tourist visas. In January, Brazil announced that
it would fingerprint and photograph American visitors.
Friday's announcement came in the evening in most European
capitals, so few officials were offering responses. A
British Foreign Office spokesman said that the government
of Prime Minister Tony Blair had known for some time that
the Bush administration would probably begin fingerprinting
and photographing all visitors to the United States.
"It is something we have been discussing, post-Madrid," the
official said, referring to the March 11 terrorist attacks
in Spain.
Martine de Haan, a spokeswoman for the Dutch Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, said, "If they want to do it, it's O.K.
with us."
Ms. de Haan said the Dutch government viewed the new
regulations as a temporary measure because the Netherlands
and other European countries were working on creating new
passports with facial-recognition technology that may
eliminate the need for American officials to take the
fingerprints of European visitors.
She acknowledged, however, that Europeans had objected to
some American security provisions in the past and said she
was unsure as to whether the new policy would anger some
Dutch citizens.
"Maybe," Ms. de Haan said. "We'll have to see about that."
The announcement came two weeks after the State Department
and Homeland Security officials urged Congress to postpone
by two years a deadline that required the 27 countries to
start issuing passports that employ facial-recognition
technology by Oct. 26. Nearly all of the countries are
expected to miss the deadline, forcing millions of visitors
with old-fashioned passports to apply for visas to travel
to the United States. The officials argued that many of
those travelers might choose to avoid the United States,
which could threaten the American tourism industry.
Some lawmakers and administration officials said the new
regulations may persuade members of Congress who remain
anxious about security loopholes to approve the extension.
They argue that tourists will be willing to undergo the
screening once they learn that the digital fingerprinting
and photographing typically takes 15 seconds and does not
leave visitors with ink-stained fingers.
Representative F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., the Wisconsin
Republican who is chairman of the House Judiciary
Committee, hailed the new rules on Friday and said they
could be put into effect with little inconvenience and
would "help ensure that the visa waiver program is not
exploited by terrorists."
Mr. Hutchinson said he believed that airports could handle
the screening of an additional 13 million people without
delays, but airport officials remained skeptical.
"We have some concerns about making sure that we match the
resources necessary to make sure that this doesn't cause
additional queuing as people are coming in through the
facilities," said Todd Hauptli, vice president of the
American Association of Airport Executives.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/03/politics/03TRAV.html?ex=1081975920&ei=1&en=4690455bdbe09dc4
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