5 April 2004

U.S. expands fingerprinting program

The following article is excerpted from the “Toronto Star” of 2 April 2004.

Canadians are among the few people in the world exempted from contentious new security screenings of visitors to the United States that may rile some close allies in the war on terror.

Citizens from some 27 countries that don't require visas to visit the U.S.A., including Britain, Japan and Australia, will start being fingerprinted and photographed when they enter the country starting Sept. 30.

The step was taken because those countries won't meet an October deadline to have counterfeit-proof biometric passports that include identification features.

So they'll join the anti-terrorism program called US-VISIT that started checking all other foreign visitors arriving by air and sea in January.

That move angered some countries like Brazil, which retaliated by imposing the same requirements on visiting Americans.

Canadians, diplomats and Mexicans who have three-day, border-crossing cards and have already been cleared are the only ones to escape the process.

"There's some difference in terms of the concern of international passengers flying international aircraft coming into the United States, versus most of the Canadian citizens not travelling in that fashion," said Asa Hutchinson, a top U.S. Homeland Security official.

Eventually, though, the measure will apply to the 50 busiest border crossings, likely by the end of the year.

That means landed immigrants from Canada, but not Canadian citizens, will be checked out when they head south over the Peace Bridge and other busy spots, said a department spokesman. …

"We've enhanced our border co-operation with Canada. We're going to continue to do that."

The fingerprints and photographs are kept in a database that allows customs officials to check passengers instantly against terrorist watch lists and a national crime database.

Canada's biometric passports won't be ready this year either. The U.S. administration has asked Congress to extend the deadline for two years.

So far, only Canadians who require a visa to live and work in the U.S. or arrive from a third country need passports to enter.

Some governments were understanding of the expanded security measure Friday but many citizens were dismayed and Spanish officials said they hadn't been consulted. …

"We recognize that (travellers from these countries) are among our best allies, our best friends, our best international guests to the United States. We value their travel, we value the partnership we have with them."

"And even though . . . it's necessary to have enhanced security measures, we are doing what we can to make sure they're minimally inconvenient."

About 19 million people who require visas travel to the U.S. each year and about 13 million visit who don't need visas. They'll all be checked now, a process Hutchinson said takes about 23 seconds a person and shouldn't require more staff or create backlogs.

Some five million have been processed so far and more than 200 people with criminal or immigration violations have been stopped, the department says.

This summer, the United States will also start colour coding domestic and international air travellers for their perceived threat level, using personal information from airlines and reservation companies. The plan prompted an outcry from civil rights groups.

Countries added to the fingerprinting check list Friday include Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.