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| U.S. starts fingerprint program |
| 2004-01-06 |
| Say cheese! (no wait, don’t! screws up the face recognition software) EFL Up to 28 million visitors to the United States now have to stop for photographs and fingerprinting under a new government program launched Monday and intended to make it harder for terrorists to enter the country. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said the new US-VISIT program applies to any visitors who must have a visa to enter the United States. Citizens from more than two dozen countries, mostly in Europe, aren’t required to carry a visa if their visit is less than 90 days. Visitors from those countries are exempt. Visitors from exempt countries who are working in the United States, however, require a work visa, and therefore must leave their fingerprints and photographs with U.S. authorities. "We want visitors from abroad to continue to come to the United States, but we also want to secure our borders," Ridge said. Ridge acknowledged that US-VISIT — United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology — will only cover a small fraction of the estimated 500 million annual visitors to the United States, but he said the program was but the "first significant step in a series of steps" the government plans to take in the coming months and years. And my prediction is that this will be one of the most successful programs in the WoT, and in general. Outside of Europe, the exempt countries include Japan, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Brunei. Citizens of Canada generally do not need a visa to enter the United States. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says the goal of the US-VISIT program is to track the millions of people who come to the United States every year on business, student and tourist visas — and to use the information as a tool against terrorists. Critics say the broad-reaching program will cause unnecessary travel delays and may never prove to be effective. A 5 minute delay at the most. Big deal. And ’unnecessary’ is such a relative term. "There’s so much information in such volumes that there’s a limit to what any analyst can absorb," said Larry Johnson, an aviation security consultant. Uh, that’s what computers are for. And databases. And hard drives are cheap nowadays. Faiz Rehman, president of the National Council of Pakistani-Americans, points to the disruption in travel. "Without proper training, there will be long lines, there will be missed flights, there will be people who would be wrongly stopped," Rehman said. "The sky is falling!" (Consider also the punks who will decide to stay home because they’re afraid of being fingerprinted. That should shorten those long lines, eh Mr. Rehman?) Outside the United States, there has been a backlash as well. In reaction to the U.S. policy, Brazil last week began fingerprinting and photographing American visitors arriving at Sao Paulo’s airport. Brazil’s Foreign Ministry has also requested that Brazilians be removed from the U.S. list. Ridge said that "if the Brazilian government thinks it’s in their interests (to fingerprint and photograph Americans), so be it." Ha! The comeback of the year. "It’s not two standards, one for the United States and one for the rest of the world," he said. The U.S. program, which has a budget of $380 million, will require an estimated 24 million visitors to submit two finger scans and have a photograph taken upon entering any of 115 airports or 14 seaports. Homeland Security spokesman Bill Strassberger said once screeners become proficient, the extra security will take only 10 to 15 seconds per person, The Associated Press reported. Oh those long lines!!! Inkless fingerprints will be taken and checked instantly against a digital database for criminal backgrounds and any terrorist lists. The process will be repeated when visitors leave the United States as an extra security measure and to ensure they complied with visa limitations. The horror!!! Bwahahahaha! Good work. You’ll see the benefits of this program pile up in no time. |
| Posted by:RW2004 |
| #9 Brunei is full of nothing but Moslems. |
| Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-1-6 10:27:32 PM |
| #8 phil_b - This comes from the Firesign Theatre's class, where I first came across this |
| Posted by: .com (Pres for Life, Isles of Langerhans) 2004-1-6 5:25:35 PM |
| #7 And hard drives are cheap nowadays. Only those stupid ATA drives. The U-160 SCSIs are still expensive. ;) |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-1-6 4:41:50 PM |
| #6 The only problem I have with this is that the nations that are currently exempt are generally wide-open entry ports for the rest of the world, including that part of the world that provides most of the terrorists. Not to worry - we'll start fingerprinting visitors from the rest of the world - after a few thousand Americans are killed in another terror attack. The politically-correct get their pound of flesh and we get to bury our dead. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-1-6 11:29:17 AM |
| #5 It seems that the "comprehensive" US data base on foriegn nationals will consist of digital fingerprints and photos - real threat to privacy. Right. That other countries will "retaliate" by demanding our photos and fingerprints bothers me not at all. Any country has the right to control who enters it - not just the US -- and the gods know that we have our own kooks. The only problem I have with this is that the nations that are currently exempt are generally wide-open entry ports for the rest of the world, including that part of the world that provides most of the terrorists. |
| Posted by: rabidfox 2004-1-6 10:57:42 AM |
| #4 Far be it for me to think that I can tell Americans what is the right thing for them to do. (If Canada and Mexico cannot control their own citizens and landed immigrants then they should go on the fingerprint list as well.) But long term, the US may have a more comprehensive data base on foreign visitors than most countries have on their own citizens. Picture Canadian law enforcement running a US-VISIT fingerprint search for a domestic crime? |
| Posted by: john 2004-1-6 9:42:07 AM |
| #3 Isles of Langerhans Way too obscure reference, and BTW, if recall my physiology classes it is the Islets of Langerhans. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2004-1-6 9:27:18 AM |
| #2 Yeah - if the subsequent steps include adding in the currently exempt 29 countries, then fine. 29? you ask? Yeah - Americans who travel need to be clean, too. I'd be very happy to spend the time to prove I'm clean - and I mean multiple bio-metrics, which is what we should be doing now. It's our call, not theirs. Heh - Lula, the Looney Leftist Brazillian Prez who has recently been seen visiting Kadaffy and the Muslim League and putting a liplock on the privates of anyone he perceives has spare change, WOULD be the designated cry-baby. Stay home if you don't like it, Brazil. With the UK's coddling of jihadis and Phrawnce's fast-growing tumor, they should definitely be on the list, not exempted. And Carl's right: Papua has been waay too quiet... Same for the beautiful and far-flung Isles of Langerhans... entirely too cooperative. Canada and Mexico should be handled in a 2-stage operation: 1. Build the northern Freedom Fence and the southern Amigo Fence. 2. Repeal NAFTA. About the only country I'd feel comfortable exempting would be Japan - and only then if we could profile the hell out of everyone... If they didn't look Japanese enough and say "Ohiogozymas" way better than me, it'd be rubber glove deep probe time. Call in Nurse Diesel! |
| Posted by: .com 2004-1-6 6:12:35 AM |
| #1 Japan, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Brunei Brunei ? WTF ? And, why is Papua New Zealand exempt ? They've been quiet recently, too quiet, I don't trust 'em... |
| Posted by: Carl in NH 2004-1-6 5:49:23 AM |