Marking a historic change in how America will now treat foreign visitors, the United States on Monday began an unprecedented effort to track people coming here on visas in an aggressive move aimed at deterring terrorism.
About 24 million international travelers each year will be fingerprinted and photographed–shaping their first impression of the United States–in the government’s arduous struggle to nab potential terrorists before they strike.
The intensified security procedures at 115 airports and 14 passenger-ship ports were believed to be the first instance of a country systematically fingerprinting arriving immigrants and international visitors. U.S. homeland security officials are still working on a system to monitor visa holders departing the U.S.
The controversial security changes, which come with the U.S. at a high terror threat level, are expected to dramatically affect relations between the U.S. and some countries.
An official in Brazil has already protested, calling the action “xenophobic.” In Chicago, some arriving visitors said Monday they were made to feel like criminals.
Critics of the new program, called the U.S. Visit and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology, predicted it would not scare away terrorists. They said the crackdown would not have detected Richard Reid, the infamous “shoe bomber” who tried to blow up an airliner two years ago; he was a citizen of the United Kingdom, which the U.S. has exempted.
Opponents also feared the moves would mark the first step toward more protectionist measures aimed at safeguarding U.S. borders, resulting in unfair treatment of certain communities.
“I think this in essence is going to end up singling out Arabs and Muslims who come from certain countries,” said Omar Najib, a Palos Hills lawyer and treasurer of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
But Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge hailed the new measures. He said they will deter terrorism without interrupting tourism.
“We want to show the world we can keep our borders open and our nation secure,” Ridge said after observing the procedures at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta.
About two dozen people wanted for offenses including illegal drug charges, sexual assault and visa fraud were arrested as the program began. But no one on a terrorist watch list was stopped during recent testing of the new system.
Federal authorities reported that many foreign visitors took in stride the new measures, which added only 15 seconds to processing.
“Innocent travelers should know they have nothing to fear with this system,” said Robert Mocny, program deputy director. Federal officials will have access to the data on a need-to-know basis and all federal privacy protections apply, he said.
But Kyoon Jung, 24, a South Korean passing through O’Hare International Airport Monday, said he was offended that the new security measures applied to him, but not to citizens from countries that don’t need visas.
“It’s just a couple minutes [of processing time], but it’s not a good feeling,” said Jung, on his way to Columbia University in New York. “It’s the rich countries that don’t have to go through this. It’s discrimination.”
Citizens from 27 countries, including Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and many other European nations, are waived from the entry-visa program if they are tourists for fewer than 90 days. But citizens from those countries on work or student visas, or if they are in the United States for more than 90 days, must follow the new procedures.
The numbers of visitors affected will increase later this year when U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada are added to the security program. Most Canadians are not required to obtain U.S. visas, nor are Mexican nationals staying in the U.S. for a short time.
Foreign visitors must now place both index fingers on a small scanner and have their photos snapped by digital cameras.
This information is instantaneously compared to photos and fingerprints provided when visitors applied for visas at home. It also is immediately cross-checked with the federal government’s terror watch list and other criminal databases.
Results are returned within seconds while the passenger is present. A red alert appears on screens if possible national security, identity fraud or other law-enforcement concerns are found.
Security experts, however, said the database offers little chance, at least in the short term, of identifying terrorists.
“Our immigration databases cannot even track a chemistry student from India who is here on an expired visa,” said Michael Boyd, an aviation industry analyst. “The fact is we don’t have a comprehensive aviation security system that anticipates the next threat.”
Billie Vincent, a former security director for the Federal Aviation Administration, said terrorists would not allow their picture to be taken or their fingerprints scanned into an international database.
Many leaders in the Arab-American community dismissed the new security regimen as ineffective.
“We don’t know who the terrorists are, so getting fingerprints isn’t going to help,” said James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute in Washington. “It won’t pop up someone like (Sept. 11 hijacker) Mohammad Ata,” the leader of the terrorists who was in the U.S. legally.
“Osama bin Laden–we don’t have a fingerprint of him,” Zogby added.
Some Arab-Americans said ordinary visitors were the most likely to suffer.
Others said excluding citizens from Canada, Mexico and Western Europe from the additional scrutiny could undermine the effort by letting terrorists slip through from those countries. Still, some American citizens arriving home at O’Hare said the new restrictions were overdue, coming more than two years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“Tensions are up and nerves are raw,” said Tim Fader, 35, of La Crosse, Wis., returning from vacation in Guadalajara, Mexico, with his family.
To visitors and businesspeople who object to having their identity confirmed by U.S. authorities, Fader, a wrestling coach at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, said: “They didn’t have their country attacked.”
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New entry procedures for foreign visitors
Increased security measures aimed at preventing terrorists from entering the U.S. began Monday at 115 airports and 14 seaports.
HOW IT WORKS
– Upon entry to the U.S., visitors traveling with visas will have two fingerprints scanned by an inkless device and a digital picture taken.
– Information will be used to verify visitors’ identities, and to compare the information against a database of known and suspected terrorist and criminals. It will be stored as part of the visitors’ travel records.
– Procedure is expected to add 15 seconds to processing time.
WHO IT AFFECTS
– Applies to 24 million annual foreign visitors without a visa waiver.
– Visa waivers are given to citizens of Andora, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
FUTURE PROGRAMS
– Exit procedures will be phased in at air and seaports by Dec. 31.
– Entry and exit procudures at land borders will be phased into 50 busiest land ports of entry by Dec. 31 and at all land ports by Dec 31, 2005.
Source: Department of Homeland Security
Chicago Tribune
