News

Biometric '`identifiers' collected at U.S. airports

January 13, 2004

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. government's 2004 resolution is to fingerprint and photograph some 23 million foreign visitors arriving at 115 U.S. airports -- without clogging the air transit system.

According to an article in The (Washington) Daily Star, the photos and fingerprints will be required only of visitors with visas. Citizens from 27 countries, mostly in Europe, who enter for tourism or business for short periods without a visa are exempted by Department of Homeland Security, which runs the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology, or US-VISIT.

Beginning today, immigration officials at all US international airports will vet visitors' passports and visas and pose the usual questions before taking their fingerprints and photographs.

This is phase one of US-VISIT, a $380-million effort to track down terrorists. By 2005, every port of entry on land, sea and air will have the photographic and fingerprinting technology. All U.S. visas and passports will eventually include photos and fingerprints, called "biometric identifiers."

US-VISIT will set up self-service kiosks at all U.S. airports. There, visitors will "check out" of the country before stepping on the plane.