<http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/2920227> HoustonChronicle.com Nov. 28, 2004, 12:44AM U.S.'s neighbors rap expanded border ID program Fingerprinting and photographing at Canadian and Mexican crossings called divisive By DOUG STRUCK and KEVIN SULLIVAN Washington Post Andrea Schnekenburger pressed her two index fingers on a scanning pad at the U.S. border, becoming one of the first travelers to submit such data to a vast new bank of fingerprints and photographs that will be taken of millions of people who cross land borders to enter the United States. "At least they didn't use ink," said Schnekenburger, 42, a German resident of Canada en route to a U.S. business appointment on Nov. 18. "It was easier than I thought." Three U.S. border crossings - one from Canada, at Port Huron, and two from Mexico, at Laredo and Douglas, Ariz. - launched a program run by the Department of Homeland Security to collect fingerprints and photographs at U.S. borders. It will be expanded to the 50 busiest crossings by the end of next month, U.S. officials said. The requirements won't apply to U.S. or Canadian citizens or to travelers under age 14 or over 79. There are exceptions for Mexicans with special border-crossing cards known as laser visas, according to Homeland Security officials. Only 3 percent of an estimated 108 million people who enter the United States at legal land checkpoints annually will be affected, they said, while the program will increase security for the United States, catch criminals and speed processing at the border by computerizing some functions. But groups in Canada and Mexico complain that the new process will collect an Orwellian databank of personal information on law-abiding visitors, will unfairly target racial groups, might slow the border-crossing process and is unlikely to stop a terrorist from coming into the country. Mexican critics say the program is another step toward making the borders in America "a dividing line" and a sign of "distrust" of Mexicans. Canadian critics say files created on thousands of their residents will "criminalize" the border process. Those crossing the bridge with no Canadian passport, like Schnekenburger, are directed into a building where an agent takes digital photos of them and scans their index fingers. The system began operating at 130 airports and seaports in the United States in January, and fingerprints and photos already are required as part of the application for anyone needing a visa. But this expansion to land crossings particularly affects the busy daily commerce across the borders of the country's only contiguous neighbors. Canadian passport holders and Mexicans who work in the United States and have a laser visa card, which already carries the bearer's photo and fingerprint, are now exempt from the program. U.S. officials have sent mixed signals about whether the data collection eventually will include everyone. Critics in Canada say the exclusions mean the program unfairly targets an estimated 1 million Canadian residents who are classified as "landed immigrants" or permanent residents who have not obtained a Canadian passport. Critics also say the new process will exacerbate delays at the Mexican and Canadian borders, which already have considerable daily shuttling of trucks and workers. "This program could turn what has traditionally been a bottleneck into a complete blockage," said Rafael Fernandez de Castro, a leading international relations specialist in Mexico City. "This could be truly terrible. The border, instead of being a connecting bridge, is becoming a dividing line." -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'