U.S. To Begin Fingerprinting EU Visitors
A woman embraces an injured Syrian boy in a Lebanese Red Cross ambulance after he was smuggled into the northern Lebanese border town of Wadi Khaled for treatment, May 30, 2012. / AFP/Getty
Visitors from European nations traveling with visas or visa-free to the United States will soon have to give 10 digital fingerprints when entering the country, a senior U.S. Homeland Security official said Monday.
Border checks could also soon include other biometric data, such as facial and eye retina scans, as the U.S. upgrades security at its ports, airports and border crossings, said P.T. Wright, the operations director for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's US-VISIT Program.
All people from European nations and others participating in the U.S. Visa-Waiver program would have to give additional prints, as would people traveling from nations where visas are needed, he said.
Wright, who was in Brussels to explain the new system to EU officials, said a pilot project at 10 major U.S. airports would be launched in late 2007, expanding the current program that calls for taking prints of two fingers and facial photographs.
Since the two-fingerprint scans were introduced in 2004, Wright said, security and convenience for travelers has gotten better.
"What we have encountered in the last four years is improved security as well as greater facilitation of the traveler coming to the United States," Wright said. "It's a very quick and simple scan of the fingers."
U.S. travel security restrictions have caused increased opposition in EU nations, amid demands from Brussels that Washington expand its visa-waiver program to include all 27 EU nations.
The current program allows citizens from most Western European countries and some other parts of the world to enter the country without visas, but excludes many of the newer EU member states.
EU data protection officials also have raised concerns in the past over the U.S. system and over a similar fingerprint system being set up by EU nations. They are keen to get the best privacy guarantees for citizens.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Border checks could also soon include other biometric data, such as facial and eye retina scans, as the U.S. upgrades security at its ports, airports and border crossings, said P.T. Wright, the operations director for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's US-VISIT Program.
All people from European nations and others participating in the U.S. Visa-Waiver program would have to give additional prints, as would people traveling from nations where visas are needed, he said.
Wright, who was in Brussels to explain the new system to EU officials, said a pilot project at 10 major U.S. airports would be launched in late 2007, expanding the current program that calls for taking prints of two fingers and facial photographs.
Since the two-fingerprint scans were introduced in 2004, Wright said, security and convenience for travelers has gotten better.
"What we have encountered in the last four years is improved security as well as greater facilitation of the traveler coming to the United States," Wright said. "It's a very quick and simple scan of the fingers."
U.S. travel security restrictions have caused increased opposition in EU nations, amid demands from Brussels that Washington expand its visa-waiver program to include all 27 EU nations.
The current program allows citizens from most Western European countries and some other parts of the world to enter the country without visas, but excludes many of the newer EU member states.
EU data protection officials also have raised concerns in the past over the U.S. system and over a similar fingerprint system being set up by EU nations. They are keen to get the best privacy guarantees for citizens.
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whatta load of b.s. !
to try to intercept 100, we're going to fingerprint millions of visitors ??? And this is going to "protect" us? Some of you other mentioned the mexican, canadian borders - but wait a minute here - what about the other 5 billion inhabitants of this planet? How do we get their fingerprints too?
(Bushit & Co. make Joe Stalin look real good)
If you have never done anything wrong you have no worries. The government has us no matter what! Guess we can't go to Canada to dodge the draft now?
Illegally crossing the border from Mexico to U.S.-priceless.
Illegal immigrants - everywhere you want to be.