| The city of Rio de Janeiro will file a lawsuit Wednesday demanding an end to Brazil’s new practice of fingerprinting and photographing U.S. tourists, Mayor Cesar Maia announced Tuesday, and the State Department seconded his complaint. Maia said the procedures, ordered by a Brazilian federal judge who was angered by new U.S. screening of Brazilian visitors, discriminate against Americans by treating them differently from other foreign visitors. In addition, Maia contended that Brazil’s federal government, not a judge, should be setting the country’s immigration policies. "It is the country that loses because of this infantile anti-American policy," Maia said in an e-mail. City lawyers will seek immediate suspension of the judge’s order, saying it harms Rio’s business and tourism interests and usurps federal powers. The city will seek compensation for damages if the order isn’t overturned. The move came after Brazilian Federal Police officials, unprepared for their new fingerprinting and photographing duties, took as long as nine hours on Monday to process bleary-eyed U.S. citizens who’d arrived on overnight flights to Brazil from New York and Miami. |