U.S. Fingerprint Plan Dismays Foreigners
Sat Apr 3, 3:39 AM ET
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By KENJI HALL, Associated Press Writer
TOKYO - Expanded U.S. plans to fingerprint and photograph millions of foreigners upon entry got cautious support from most nations, but travelers were frustrated.
The move, announced Friday by the Bush administration, affects citizens in 27 countries, including some of America's staunchest allies, who had been allowed to travel within the United States without visas for up to 90 days.
Governments were largely understanding and said they wouldn't impose similar requirements on U.S. visitors for now, as Brazil did last winter when the US-VISIT program began.
The Australian government — which has sent troops to join the U.S.-led campaigns in Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Iraq (news - web sites) — said it knew that the United States was considering such steps. However, a foreign ministry spokeswoman said Saturday that they would seek clarification from U.S. authorities.
Many Australians were furious.
"I think it's ridiculous," said Hilbert Ho, a 30-year-old graphics designer in downtown Sydney. "It will probably drive a wedge between us and them."
That sentiment was echoed in Singapore, where businessman Gerald Liew said he thought Washington was overreacting.
"Singapore has been fighting terror just like the United States," he said, adding the new policy "only makes me feel like I'm not really wanted there."
The changes in the US-VISIT program will take effect by Sept. 30. Travelers from the 27 countries will be fingerprinted and photographed each time they enter the United States through any of 115 international airports and 14 seaports. The program will be expanded to border crossings later.
Citizens from those countries still won't have to go through the consulate interviews and background checks that people from other nations must do to obtain visas.
U.S. officials announced the measures after determining that most of the so-called "visa-waiver countries" won't meet an October deadline to have biometric passports. Such passports include fingerprint and iris identification features that make the documents virtually impossible to counterfeit.
Britain's Foreign Office said most travelers would understand Washington's policy was for their own safety. It said London had no plans to require U.S. citizens to provide fingerprints and photographs and would start issuing its own biometric passports in mid-2005.
Italy, another key U.S. ally, started issuing new machine-readable passports late last year to comply with the new U.S. requirements, but many old passports are still in circulation, an Interior Ministry official said.
Officials in France, where opposition to the U.S. war in Iraq was strong, had no immediate comment. But opinions in the streets of Paris were mixed.
Guillaume Bronstein said he did not object, as long as the information was used only for fighting terrorism and did not affect personal liberties. "It's fine if it can keep people from getting killed," he said.
A spokesman for New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said the reported changes had "important implications for New Zealand," but declined to elaborate.
In Tokyo, Makoto Kamijo said he would feel safer if the U.S. compulsory checks were for all foreigners. "I just hope they won't misuse the personal data," the 26-year-old software engineer said.
Japan sent a naval rearguard to aid U.S. forces rounding up Taliban and al-Qaida members in Afghanistan and recently deployed troops to help with Iraqi reconstruction efforts in its biggest overseas dispatch since World War II.
There are no changes in unique rules covering visits by Canadians and Mexicans.
The 27 countries are: 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 and the United Kingdom.
