US fingerprint & photograph all foreign visitors except those on visa waiver

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3367893.stm

Visitors face US security checks

Most Europeans are excluded for now

New US security regulations are coming into force that will see most foreign
visitors having their photographs taken and fingerprints checked.
The rules apply to visa holders and cover all but 28 countries.

Those arriving under the visa waiver programme - which includes most
Europeans - are not affected.

The measures replace the old special registration programme, which was said
to discriminate against Muslims and people of Middle Eastern origin.

But claims of discrimination are still being made by some of those countries
whose nationals are affected.

Brazil has made formal complaints and started fingerprinting and
photographing all US citizens arriving at its main international airports.

Instant checks

All 115 US airports that handle international flights and 14 major seaports
are covered by the programme, under which customs officials can instantly
check an immigrant or visitor's criminal background.

A similar programme is to be launched at 50 land border crossings by the end
of next year

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge will formally launch the programme at
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in the southern state of
Georgia.

Called US-Visit, or US Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology, it
will check an estimated 24 million foreign visitors who enter the US each
year through airports or seaports on tourist, business and student visas.

Inkless fingerprints will be taken and checked instantly against a national
digital database for criminal backgrounds and any terrorist lists.

Photographs will be used to help create a database for law enforcement.

The process will be repeated when the foreigners leave the country as an
extra security measure, and to ensure they complied with visa limitations.

Fears of delays

Officials in charge of the programme, which has been planned for some time
and has nothing to do with the current high state of alert, say that in the
long run the new checks will make travel formalities quicker to negotiate.

But travel industry analysts warn that the steady tightening of security on
international flights will lead to a corresponding increase in delays and
cancellations.

The US official in charge of the programme, Asa Hutchinson, says that will
not be the case.

"This takes a matter of seconds... we're taking every step to make sure that
this facilitates the passengers that come through our airports and does not
delay them," he said.

There are concerns that the checks could foster ill-feeling.

"You also have look at the costs of these policies... for example, the
special registration programme resulted in 13,000 orders of deportation on
people who tried to register with the government," Tim Edgar of the American
Civil Liberties Union told the BBC's World Today radio programme.

"That kind of response can cause problems with governments around the world
that we are trying to have a better relationship with."

The system was scheduled to begin on 1 January, but was delayed to avoid the
busy holiday travel period.

The visa waiver programme allows citizens from mostly European nations to
visit the US for up to 90 days without visas.