Now the US wants all your fingers printed
WASHINGTON – Travel associations in the United States continue to grapple with evidence that overseas visitors are being turned off America by perceptions that the US is no longer a tourist-friendly destination.
Security issues at airports are the chief culprits as authorities intensify the scrutiny of visitors arriving at US ports.
And it’s getting worse.
Over the next few months, major US airports from Boston to San Francisco will start requiring 10 fingerprints from most non-US citizens – not just both index fingers – to help prevent terrorism.
By the end of 2008, all US points of entry will enforce the rule, the Homeland Security Department (DHS) said this week. The new rule will make it easier for border officials to check the fingerprints against a government database of terrorist suspects.
Dulles International, Washington’s main airport, started the new procedure November 20. New York’s Kennedy airport, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago O’Hare airport, San Francisco, Houston, Miami, Detroit and Orlando, Florida, will follow during the next few months, DHS said.
To enter the country, most foreign nationals between ages 14 and 79, who arrive in the US or apply for visas, will have to provide the digital fingerprints as well as a photograph, DHS said.
Ian Jarrett
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