US-VISIT program expands to include...allies

I believe there will be a big push in the next few years for 'smart' driver's
licenses and passports.  For our own safety, of course.  We need to treat
everyone like a terrorist in order to be safe, just as Israel does.  (Or so says
a Zionist acquaintance of mine.)

I don't agree, but you've probably figured that out by now.  There's a lot I'd
like to say on the subject of privacy and freedom, but I'll save it for another
e-mail.

-x


previous:

http://www.ballistichelmet.org/pipermail/heads/2004-January/002111.html

short bit from Free Internet Press:
http://freeinternetpress.com/article.pl?sid=04/04/03/102241&mode=thread


U.S. fingerprints 'allied' visitors
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3595221.stm



A US requirement for visitors to be fingerprinted and photographed is being
expanded to include citizens from America's closest allies.

The move will affect visitors from 27 countries - including the UK, Japan and
Australia - whose nationals are able to visit the US without a visa.

The change in the US-Visit programme is due to take effect by 30 September.

The programme is designed to fight terrorism, but has been criticised by many -
notably in Latin America.

Secure passports

The US-Visit (US Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology) security
system is meant to identify travellers who have violated immigration controls,
have criminal records or belong to groups listed as terrorist organisations by
the US.

The US has been routinely fingerprinting and face-scanning foreign visitors
since January.

But Washington decided to extend the programme after determining that visa
waiver countries will not meet an October deadline to introduce sophisticated
passports, which include biometric data and make counterfeiting virtually
impossible.

	
COUNTRIES AFFECTED
Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,
Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands,
New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, UK


The UK authorities, for example, have said they will not be able to issue the
new passports with the new data - such as an individual's fingerprints or iris
pattern - before mid-2005.

The administration announced on Friday that it would seek a two-year extension
of the deadline from Congress.

Security officials said the delay of the new passport system meant the
port-of-entry security checks would therefore have to be extended.

Citizens from the 27 countries will still be allowed to visit the US without a
visa, although they will now have to be fingerprinted and photographed before
they enter.

"We recognise that the visa waiver country travellers are among our best allies,
friends, and international guests," said Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for
border and transportation security.

"We are doing all we can to make sure the security measures cause minimal
inconvenience."

'Privacy protected'

The plans, if approved by Congress, will entail a massive increase in the
visitors to the US requiring checks. Some 13 million visitors from visa waiver
countries visit the US each year, compared to some 19 million from non-visa
waiver countries.

Canadians will now be the only foreign nationals able to enter the US without
the checks, Mr Hutchinson said.

Asked whether the data on visitors would be kept, Mr Hutchinson said it would -
in part to "facilitate travel" for frequent visitors to the US.

He said fingerprints were checked against criminal databases, but the
information was "strictly protected under privacy rules".

When the border procedures for non-visa waiver countries were introduced at the
beginning of the year, Brazil protested by introducing similar checks for US
visitors to Rio de Janeiro.

But the US authorities the news measuers do not add any significant time to the
process of clearing immigration.

And the BBC's Washington correspondent Justin Webb points out that there may be
some benefits.

Some people who were going to have to get visas will be allowed to continue
using the scheme. 
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