- Title: USA: FINGERPRINTING OF FOREIGNERS BEGINS AT U.S. AIRPORTS AND PORTS
- Date: 5th January 2004
- Summary: (U7) NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (REUTERS) 1. SLV OF JOHN F. KENNEDY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TERMINAL (2 SHOTS) 0.13 2. SV/CU FINGERPRINTING PROCEDURE (2 SHOTS) 0.31 3. SLV ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF FIELD OPERATIONS, HOMELAND SECURITY, JASON AHERN, SPEAKING TO REPORTERS 0.36 4. MCU (English) AHERN SAYING: "I would like to look at U.S VISIT as a continuum. It doesn't just begin when someone arrives in the United States. It begins overseas at the consulate post when somebody comes in through the visa application process. It then matched upon their arrival in the United States so that we can continue to verify who the individual is who's coming into this country and to ensure that they don't pose any risk to this country." 0.57 5. SV REPORTERS 1.01 6. MCU (English) AHERN SAYING: "Safety and security for the nation is critical and that is in part what the Department of Homeland Security was created for. That's what customs and border protection does at our ports of entry throughout the United States, but while we do secure the borders, what we can not do, is over-secure or over-control it to the point where it has a detrimental impact on legitimate travel and trade and we think that the U.S VISIT programme actually will have the benefit of both, providing a high level of security as well as facilitating legitimate travel and trade." 1.26 7. SV/CU OF FINGERPRINTING DEMONSTRATION (4 SHOTS) 1.52 8. SLV PASSENGERS OUTSIDE TERMINAL 1.58 9. MCU (English) INDONESIAN BUSINESSMAN YO TEKPENG SAYING: "They just ask us to bring our fingerprints to the machine. It's O.K. Takes only a few more minutes, it's O.K., it's good, I think a good system." 2.08 10. MCU (English) SOUTH KOREAN STUDENT, SOONKI KOOK, SAYING: "South Korea is a very friendly country especially to the United States and I don't know why we have to.... why we are more suspicious than other people from other countries." 2.23 11. MCU (English) SOUTH KOREAN STUDENT, JUNG WOO CHOI, SAYING: "I don't know, it's like segregation. We don't have any violence toward Americans - but they ask for stupid things." 2.34 12. SLV PASSENGERS OUTSIDE TERMINAL (3 SHOTS) 2.46 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 20th January 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- City:
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVAEHC1I2QMGB5HOR9OIQW3NR1A5
- Story Text: Fingerprinting of foreigners begins at U.S airports
and ports - angering some from nations friendly to America.
The United States began fingerprinting and
photographing visitors from most countries on Monday
(January 5) in a controversial program to try to prevent
potential terrorists from slipping in by plane or ship.
The new measures, ordered by Congress in response to
the Sept. 11, 2001 hijacked plane attacks, were launched at
115 airports and 14 cruise ship ports across the country.
It is believed to be the first time a country has routinely
fingerprinted arriving visitors.
More than 20 million overseas visitors could be forced
to submit to the digital-based photo and finger scans.
Although long-planned, they coincide with a heightened
alert across the country after intelligence warnings of
possible attacks.
Announcing the new measures, dubbed U.S.-VISIT, at John
F. Kennedy airport in New York, the Department of Homeland
Security's Assistant Commissioner of Field Operations,
Jason Ahern said, "I would like to look at U.S VISIT as a
continuum. It doesn't just begin when someone arrives in
the United States, it begins overseas at the consulate post
when somebody comes in through the visa application
process. It then matched upon their arrival in the United
States so that we can continue to verify who the individual
is who's coming into this country and to ensure that they
don't pose any risk to this country."
The number of visitors initially affected is small
compared to the total number of visitors to the United
States, but will increase substantially later this year
when the program is extended to land borders with Mexico
and Canada, which handle the lion's share of U.S. entries.
The prospect of an extra and more cumbersome layer of
U.S. security prompted fears of increased border congestion
and a further blow to the airline industry as well as
complaints of discrimination against the developing world.
Tourists and business travellers on short visits from
27 mostly European nations are exempt from the new
measures. Canadians, who fall under special immigration
rules, also get a pass.
Given the exemptions, some analysts saw the U.S. move
as mainly a confidence-boosting effort, while civil
liber
ties groups condemn the measures, saying they single
out people from certain counties, while leaving many
European nations off the list.
Ahern defended U.S.-VISIT, saying it does provide
balance.
"Safety and security for the nation is critical and
that is in part what the Department of Homeland Security
was created for, that's what customs and border protection
does at our ports of entry throughout the United States,
but while we do secure the borders, what we can not do, is
over-secure or over-control it to the point where it has a
detrimental impact on legitimate travel and trade and we
think that the U.S. VISIT programme actually will have the
benefit of both, providing a high level of security as well
as facilitating legitimate travel and trade" said Ahern.
Outside JFK's International Terminal, Indonesian
businessman Yo Tekpeng, who was visiting New York for work,
was stoic about the changes, saying: "They just ask us to
bring our fingerprints to the machine. It's O.K. Takes only
a few more minutes, it's O.K., it's good, I think a good
system."
But some people arriving in New York were not happy,
including two from South Korea who were angry that their
country, a long-time ally of the U.S, is being singled out
for fingerprinting. Student from Seoul Soonki Kook said,
"South Korea is a very friendly country especially to the
United States and I don't know why we have to.... why we
are more suspicious than other people from other
countries."
Jung Woo Choi, also from Seoul commented, "It's like
segregation. We don't have any violence toward Americans -
but they ask for stupid things."
The exemption of 27 states means the programme would
not have detected someone like Richard Reid, a British
passport holder who tried to blow up an airliner with a
bomb in his shoe in 2001. And Zacarias Moussaoui, in a
U.S. jail accused of conspiracy in the Sept. 11 attacks, is
a French citizen and so would qualify for an exemption from
fingerprinting if he arrived today.
Brazil has already vented its anger, introducing its
own procedures last week to fingerprint and photograph all
arriving U.S. citizens. In authorizing the move, a
Brazilian judge said the U.S. system was comparable to the
horrors of the Nazis.
U.S. officials insisted, however, that the new
immigration regulations, would tighten domestic security
without causing any undue inconvenience or invasion of
privacy for overseas visitors.
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