Brit Visitors To America Face Finger-Printing

[Gh0st Face Killah]

All Brits and travellers from America's visa waiver countries face being
 fingerprinted and photographed when they arrive in the States next
month, as part of America's continuing security clampdown.

"It is a significant change," Homeland Security chief Asa Hutchinson
told the Telegraph this week. "We want to remind the visa waiver
countries (which include Britain and Australia) of the fact of this
enrolment."

News of the latest travel restriction appeared a week after Telegraph
columnist Stephen Robinson ridiculed the harshness of the bureaucratic
system set up for visitors requiring work permits (such as journalists
and DJs) who now need to attend a face to face interview at the US
embassy in London.

"I have come to loathe the voice of post-September 11 officialdom, the
bogus politeness you hear in visa and immigration lines: 'Sir, please
don't put your foot on that line, Sir'. Go to hell!'" he complained.

"What is baffling is why America is doing its best to alienate those who
 are its natural allies around the world," he added.

This week, the self-declared 'pro-American' columnist kept up his tirade
 against fingerprinting though warned that freedom loving Brits won't
need to worry about the States for long since British authorities are
likely to introduce similar practises at home.

"In a few years time, you will be required to report to a police station
 and offer up a fingerprint or a reading of your iris to be recorded in
a national ID databank," he predicted.

"Your identity will no longer be your own, but will belong, irrevocably
and in perpetuity, to the government. You may or may not object to this,
 but be under no misapprehension: this is a fundamental shift in the
relationship between the state and the individual."

[TeaLeaf]

Unfortunately this OTT approach has been in place a long time, although the latest steps cause real problems to anyone travelling to the US irregularly.

As an unaccompanied minor on my first trip to the US (I was aged 11 at the time) my first memories of US hospitality after what had at that point been a 14 hour travelling day was a 4 hour 'welcome' stay in the offices of US Immigration.  

Despite the fact that I had an indefinite US visa, my trip had been cleared through the airlines (all the unaccompanied minor procedures that were in place at the time), had a letter from both my parents and the family (the Fords) I was staying with explaining and confirming my 'summer holiday' with them, it still took me 4 hours to clear immigration.  I was kept on my own and not allowed access to anyone else and just had to sit in an office.  They interviewed/questioned me.  Twice. :blink:

So after 14 hours of travelling I had a 4 hour welcome from US immigration and then had to meet the Fords and start a 3 hour drive to their home.  For an 11 year old that's a pretty bad day at the office

And this story comes from someone who has a huge number of US friends, a love of american sports and a generally positively benign disposition towards US culture.  It makes you wonder why the US so often seems to struggle so much with foreign diplomacy and understanding other nationalities and their cultures, doesn't it?  

Looks like my plan to take wife and kids on their first trip to Florida this November should be a barrel of laughs.  Go figure..........

TL.

[Barley]

Simple solution is for everyone to stop going there, then lets see how those crazy yanks cope

[Maus]

I have an American fiancee, and travel across to the states reasonably often. I've been held up at immigration a few times (only a couple of hours each time - not a four hour slog like baby TL) and interviewed in rooms that are clearly set up to be intimidating (lie detectors, layout of desk and interview chair, etc). If anything I think fingerprinting ought to streamline the process of getting into the US for legitimate visitors, so I'm all for it.

Besides, why should we be treated any differently from other countries when it comes to entry requirements? You can hardly blame the US for wanting to feel secure.

All those who jump on the "oh no - my civil liberties are scattered to the four winds" bandwagon could do with considering what fingerprinting (and iris scanning) is for - simply to verify that you are who you are claiming to be. There's nothing sinister at work.

[Zok]

naive

[smilodon]

Originally posted by Maus@Sep 13 2004, 10:02 PM
All those who jump on the "oh no - my civil liberties are scattered to the four winds" bandwagon could do with considering what fingerprinting (and iris scanning) is for - simply to verify that you are who you are claiming to be. There's nothing sinister at work.

It's a fine plan with the exception that it does exactly nothing to protect America from terrorist threats. What it does do is give Americans a false sense of security. And the Bush government is all about perception not reality.

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. Nor are they likely to end up with either." Benjamin franklin

[sheepy]

kill them all.

[FatBob]

Harsh...but fair

[Barley]

Doesn't stop people taking a sly boat