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Title: Feel safer now. Post by: wilmc on May 26, 2003, 04:00:00 AM Monday, May 26, 2003 Photo and Fingerprint Fun By Matt Bivens "Russians entering the United States after Jan. 1 will have their fingerprints and photographs taken, travel documents scanned and identifications checked against terrorist watch lists, U.S. officials said." -- The Moscow Times, May 23.
This is on top of the new rules demanding face-to-face interviews to get those visas in the first place. About 23 million visitors to the United States last year arrived on visas, The Associated Press says. Ridge says that it will all be "in its first phase of operation" by year's end. So ... in about seven months, we're going to have new machines and computers up and running at dozens, maybe hundreds of locations; we're going to have hundreds if not thousands of people trained in using them; and visitors will be getting fingerprinted and photographed at arrival -- and then "checked out" at departure. There's already a faux-welcoming name for this misery: U.S. VISIT, for U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indication Technology. Still missing is the "indication technology" itself: After announcing the program in Washington, Ridge said he would start soliciting proposals from the private sector in about 60 days. That's right: In seven months this is supposed to be up and running -- but they won't even start requesting bids on it for a month or so. You do the math. It ain't happening, not on schedule anyway. You American citizens out there: Think of what it's like getting your driver's licenses renewed. The slow-moving lines to complete paperwork, the slower-moving lines to have vision tested, the glacial speed with which one's photo is taken. Now imagine having to get through post-Sept. 11 airport-style security to get into those lines. That's the future being offered. The fingerprinting will be the killer. My Russian wife has been fingerprinted, repeatedly, by the Immigration and Naturalization Service over the years, as part of her Sisyphean citizenship application. Believe me, it takes forever. Let's hope the new technologies will get rid of the ink, which doesn't wash off well. Ridge's deputy, Asa Hutchinson, says this sort of vigilance could have stopped two of the Sept. 11 hijackers -- because one didn't go to school and so violated his student visa, while the other did go to school and so violated his tourist visa. But that assumes a U.S. government so hard-ass about monitoring 100 percent visa compliance that to come here on any kind of visa would be to submit to unprecedented surveillance; to forever fear the knock on the door, the demand for papers, etc. (Meanwhile, two FBI field offices urged pre-Sept. 11 investigations of flight schools -- which suggests we should reform our existing bureaucracies, not create creaky new ones.) In addition to America's visitors, there are about 33 million foreign-born people living here -- or about every 10th U.S. resident. Among them are 547,000 university students. Tourists, students and investors are crucial to our economy, our culture -- to our national character. Now, via the mindless mission creep of the security bureaucracies, we're blithely cutting ourselves off from the world. It's a lose-lose situation -- a system likely to punish those who wish us well, and merely amuse those who don't.
Title: Re: Typical Gov't redtape Post by: wsbill on May 26, 2003, 04:00:00 AM ... in response to Feel safer now. , posted by wilmc on May 26, 2003
Heck, all ya need to do is fly your girl into Mexico and have her wade across the border along with 99% of Mexicans that cross everyday. Title: Yep, just like a bug in a rug. Post by: T P Cornholio on May 26, 2003, 04:00:00 AM ... in response to Feel safer now. , posted by wilmc on May 26, 2003
Isn't it interesting that while Ukraine has eliminated passport registration and is openeing up their customs control to make visiting easier, that the U.S. is becoming more like the old communist Russia? All in the name of safety... Big Brother, I need you! Title: Re: You know I was just thinking about this Post by: wsbill on May 28, 2003, 04:00:00 AM ... in response to Yep, just like a bug in a rug., posted by T P Cornholio on May 26, 2003
The other day, wasn't it our gov't tell us how the russian gov't would ask their children questions about their home life and now our gov't throught the means of electronic databases (credit files, telephone, etc....) can track your every move and well being. Where as in russia or other 3rd world countries, they hardly can keep track of their people coming in and out of their country. Title: Re: Yep, just like a bug in a rug. Post by: tbirdjoy on May 26, 2003, 04:00:00 AM ... in response to Yep, just like a bug in a rug., posted by T P Cornholio on May 26, 2003
Well Ukraine didn't have the 9/11 attacks either. As someone how is all to aware of the type of people that get into this country with "student visas' I for one am in favor of more scrutiny at our points of entry. Just my opinion. Mark Title: What we really need Post by: Griffin on May 26, 2003, 04:00:00 AM ... in response to Yep, just like a bug in a rug., posted by T P Cornholio on May 26, 2003
are internal checkpoints to catch potential enemies of the fatherland, er, excuse me, the homeland. Title: New fingerprinting technologies Post by: John K on May 26, 2003, 04:00:00 AM ... in response to Feel safer now. , posted by wilmc on May 26, 2003
When my wife was called in to get fingerprinted in preparation for the green card, there was no ink to worry about. The INS substation had fingerprint scanners. She just put each finger on the scanner one at a time and it was read, digitized and loaded into a computer. We spent maybe 5 minutes scanning all her fingers in various ways. A supervisor check looked at each print, found one that was not right and Marina had it scanned again. For entry into the US, they probably would use the same technology, except they won't take all the various scans that the INS requires. Probably they will simply have the person place their hands on a screen and they will be quickly scanned. If that's the case, it probably won't add too much to the processing time... Title: Re: New fingerprinting technologies Post by: slimjimco on May 26, 2003, 04:00:00 AM ... in response to New fingerprinting technologies, posted by John K on May 26, 2003
I was surprised when my wife was sent for to do fingerprints several months ago. A person I work with told me that it would be fast and without a line. We are in the relm of the Denver office of the BCIS. I came in at 9:30 in the morning, and I was the first and only in line. They had opened a new office for fingerprinting only, not far from the original office. It was empty and everyone in the office was bored out of their skulls. Interestingly, they said Russians are often difficult to obtain finger prints from because they are clean freaks, and always washing, so an accurate fingerprint procedure is more difficult. |