MrRant 0 Report post Posted January 6, 2004 CHICAGO - Foreigners arriving at U.S. airports were photographed and had their fingerprints scanned Monday in the start of a government effort to use some of the latest surveillance technology to keep terrorists out of the country. The program allows Customs officials to check passengers instantly against terrorist watch lists and a national criminal database. The goal is to "make sure our borders are open to visitors but closed to terrorists," Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said. The changes came as the United States entered a third consecutive week on high alert for terrorism, including especially tight security involving foreign flights. Fourteen flights on British Airways, Aeromexico and Air France have been canceled or delayed since New Year's Eve because of security fears. Under the new rules, travelers press their index fingers onto an inkless scanner and then have their photograph taken as they make their way through customs. The security checks target foreigners entering the 115 U.S. airports that handle international flights, as well as 14 major seaports. The only exceptions will be visitors from 27 countries — mostly European nations — whose citizens are allowed to come to the United States for up to 90 days without visas. Also exempted will be most Canadians, because they usually are not required to get visas, and Mexicans who are coming into the country for a short time and not venturing far from the border. The program, called US-VISIT, or U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology, is expected to check up to 24 million foreigners each year, though some will be repeat visitors. "America has been and will always be a welcoming country, but we will also be on guard," Ridge said at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where he greeted some of the first foreign passengers to pass through the system. In a pilot program at Hartsfield-Jackson that preceded Monday's nationwide implementation, authorities turned up 21 people on the FBI (news - web sites)'s criminal watch list for such crimes as drug offenses, rape and visa fraud, Ridge said. Homeland Security spokesman Bill Strassberger said that once screeners become proficient, the extra security will take 10 to 15 seconds per person. Airport officials and passengers reported little fuss over the security checks, and many said they did not mind the extra steps if it meant safer skies. Passengers reported only minor delays, if any, in passing through customs checkpoints. "We all want to go on a flight knowing we're going to arrive safely," said Layal Rashid, 22, a Cyprus resident who arrived at Chicago's O'Hare Airport on a flight from Frankfurt, Germany. "It puts your mind at ease to know that the security is stricter now." But some foreign travelers were taken aback by the rules, and worried about a system that tracks their movements. "We're not used to having our fingerprint and photo taken and it being filed. Who knows what they can do with that?" said Carlos Elizondo, who came to Dallas-Fort Worth Airport on a flight from Monterrey, Mexico. Under the program, photographs go into a law-enforcement database that eventually will allow users to pull up photos of visa holders and make sure they match the person who is seeking to enter the country. The travel data is supposed to be securely stored and made available only to authorized officials on a need-to-know basis. Foreigners also will be checked as they leave the country as an extra security measure and to ensure they have not overstayed their visa or violated other restrictions. A similar program is to be installed at 50 land border crossings by the end of next year. Nishith Shah, who arrived at Boston's Logan Airport from India, said he was comfortable with the process because it did not take long. But he said he hopes it does not lead to further restrictions on foreigners. "Is it going to stop here?" Shah said. In Brazil, meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry started fingerprinting and photographing arriving Americans last week in retaliation. U.S. citizens waited for hours Monday to be photographed and fingerprinted at Rio's international airport. "As far as reciprocity, Brazil has every right to do this," said Claire Fallender, a 27-year-old American sociologist from Boston, who said she had been waiting for five hours. "The only problem is without the technology to process people, it's causing frustration and losing the point of protesting American policy." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hogan Made Wrestling 0 Report post Posted January 6, 2004 I was going to make a comment on how this could creat a huge logistical nightmare at airports, but then I read the exceptions part of it (Europe, Canada, and part of Mexico), and it sounds pretty manageable. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Edwin MacPhisto 0 Report post Posted January 6, 2004 Not a bad idea at all, though I don't really get the exceptions thing. It seems like a pretty wide gap to leave if the country's going to go with this policy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted January 6, 2004 Well this is what happens when you have HITLER at the helm... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Cerebus Report post Posted January 6, 2004 Fingerprinting foreigners? What's next? Gassing Jews? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted January 6, 2004 We can only pray cereb., we can only pray. Don't these two images look similar? now then... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Cerebus Report post Posted January 7, 2004 Yegods! Moveon.org was right! *barricades doors and gets out huge cache of shotguns* Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dubq 0 Report post Posted January 8, 2004 Hooray for racial profiling! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2GOLD 0 Report post Posted January 8, 2004 Why the hell didn't we just do this in the first place? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
C Dubya 04 0 Report post Posted January 8, 2004 Why the hell didn't we just do this in the first place? I agree. This may not be the most liberal point of view, but these people are coming to our country, so fuck em. If they have a problem with it, stay the hell out. If I'm flying to England or Germany, and they want to fingerprint me when I get there, that's fine with me. I know ahead of time and if I have a fit about it, I can just not go. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted January 8, 2004 Why the hell didn't we just do this in the first place? Because of what the poster above you said. Hooray for racial profiling! Put your priorities in order, hippie. Feelings being hurt > Planes crashing into buildings... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2GOLD 0 Report post Posted January 8, 2004 I don't give a damn what country you are from, if you are coming to any country you should be photographed and fingerprinted to make sure you aren't some terrorist psycho. Hell, if I go to another country and they want to fingerprint me and take my photo...fine, I'm a visitor to their country. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dubq 0 Report post Posted January 8, 2004 Why the hell didn't we just do this in the first place? Because of what the poster above you said. Hooray for racial profiling! Put your priorities in order, hippie. Feelings being hurt > Planes crashing into buildings... Hardly a hippie here buddy.. What I'm saying is that it's kind of stupid to offer exceptions... if you're going to do it for some, do it for all... or just don't do it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Anglesault Report post Posted January 8, 2004 Why the hell didn't we just do this in the first place? Because of what the poster above you said. Hooray for racial profiling! Put your priorities in order, hippie. Feelings being hurt > Planes crashing into buildings... Hardly a hippie here buddy.. What I'm saying is that it's kind of stupid to offer exceptions... This might sound bad, but the reality of the situation is that the British aren't the ones flying planes into our buildings. If we know who we have to be on the lookout for, but can't act on that because it's "racial profiling" we're not getting anything accomplished Now, the only problem I see is that someone could just hop on a plane from Germany and get by, but I'm sure that issue will be settled. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rob E Dangerously 0 Report post Posted January 8, 2004 Terrorists: "If it only weren't for our fingerprints, we would have made it into the USA" The only exceptions will be visitors from 27 countries — mostly European nations — whose citizens are allowed to come to the United States for up to 90 days without visas. So.. which 27 countries? what non-European countries? just curious Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tommytomlin 0 Report post Posted January 9, 2004 If France is exempted and Australia isn't there is going to be some serious baby-dangling infront of crocodiles going on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Wildbomb 4:20 Report post Posted January 9, 2004 A policy I agree with, totally? No way! It couldn't be! I'm shocked. In all honesty, I think this is probably quite brilliant. Sure it *is* racial profiling, but at the same time, I think that it's a step in the right direction. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC Report post Posted January 9, 2004 Terrorists: "If it only weren't for our fingerprints, we would have made it into the USA" The only exceptions will be visitors from 27 countries — mostly European nations — whose citizens are allowed to come to the United States for up to 90 days without visas. So.. which 27 countries? what non-European countries? just curious Is this an attempt to bash profiling? As a rule, if Europeans haven't really DONE much terrorism EVER --- you'd be wasting time and resources watching out for them. -=Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dubq 0 Report post Posted January 9, 2004 Fingerprinting will be messy, too.. they've already splurged with your economy so why not go a little further and get retinal scans. ;p Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to 1984. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Your Paragon of Virtue 0 Report post Posted January 9, 2004 Terrorists: "If it only weren't for our fingerprints, we would have made it into the USA" The only exceptions will be visitors from 27 countries — mostly European nations — whose citizens are allowed to come to the United States for up to 90 days without visas. So.. which 27 countries? what non-European countries? just curious Is this an attempt to bash profiling? As a rule, if Europeans haven't really DONE much terrorism EVER --- you'd be wasting time and resources watching out for them. -=Mike Do you want to take the chance that the one European fuckhead that isn't fingerprinted masterminds another 9/11? With consequences like those, I don't think there's any room for error and that the cost of such shouldn't matter. Besides, it's not like these people are automatically innocent for anything else. This doesn't just work for terrorism, as there are crimes committed that require fingerprints in order to catch the suspect. It's not like it's kill 3000 people or nothing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC Report post Posted January 9, 2004 Do you want to take the chance that the one European fuckhead that isn't fingerprinted masterminds another 9/11? Until Europeans do it, it seems extraneous to check them out. We don't have infinite resources. We don't have infinite agents to do this. We only have so many. Thus, we HAVE to focus on certain groups and, hate to say it, young Middle Eastern men TEND to be the ones who commit acts of terrorism. COULD a European do it? Yup. Absolutely. ANYBODY can. But since we can't check EVERY SINGLE PERSON, we have to focus on the ones most likely to do it. With consequences like those, I don't think there's any room for error and that the cost of such shouldn't matter. It HAS to matter. You want to cut Medicare to pay for this? Bush's spending restraint is weak, at best, but there have to be lines drawn. You can't give infinite sums of money or else the terrorists will be able to BANKRUPT us. Besides, it's not like these people are automatically innocent for anything else. This doesn't just work for terrorism, as there are crimes committed that require fingerprints in order to catch the suspect. It's not like it's kill 3000 people or nothing. It is a basic first step. It won't solve all problems, but it will help the problem. -=Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rob E Dangerously 0 Report post Posted January 9, 2004 As a rule, if Europeans haven't really DONE much terrorism EVER --- you'd be wasting time and resources watching out for them. Even people of Arab descent that would be living in countries like France or Germany? [and considering the fact that some of the hijackers had lived in Hamburg, Germany for a period of time, it's at least reasonable to think some of them might be citizens of European countries) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Cerebus Report post Posted January 9, 2004 As a rule, if Europeans haven't really DONE much terrorism EVER --- you'd be wasting time and resources watching out for them. Even people of Arab descent that would be living in countries like France or Germany? [and considering the fact that some of the hijackers had lived in Hamburg, Germany for a period of time, it's at least reasonable to think some of them might be citizens of European countries) I don't think they were European citizens and didn't have the all important passports. Or maybe they were forged? *shrug* Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zorin Industries 0 Report post Posted January 9, 2004 Europe has a large minority of Muslims, some of which are Fundementalist, so it wouldn't be completly out of the question for a terroist to fly in from the U.K. of France. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mole 0 Report post Posted January 11, 2004 They should fingerprint everyone then. When my pops and I were going to Ireland, they randomly grabbed my dad and patted him down big time. My dad is 100% Irish, 58 and looks completly harmless. I never let him down for that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
