http://nytimes.com/2004/10/01/politics/01airports.html?pagewanted=print&position=
The New York Times
October 1, 2004
Foreign Travelers Face Fingerprints and Jet Lag
By RACHEL L. SWARNS
EWARK, Sept. 30 - Laetitia Bohn walked into Newark Liberty International
Airport on Thursday, dazed and sleepy after an eight-hour flight from
Paris, and was jolted from her reverie when an immigration officer asked
for her photograph and fingerprints along with her passport.
The officer took a digital scan of her left index finger, then her right,
and then snapped her picture with a tiny camera. The entire process took
only a few seconds, but for Ms. Bohn, a 29-year-old tourist from France, it
was an unnerving symbol of how much the United States had changed since the
terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"It made me feel kind of guilty, like a prisoner," Ms. Bohn said. "You can
feel the difference since 9/11. I was in New York seven years ago and
people were happy to have visitors. I don't think it's the case anymore."
And so the day went - with a click of a camera and sharply conflicting
emotions as foreign visitors across the country arrived at American
airports, where officials for the first time began photographing and
electronically fingerprinting travelers from 27 industrialized nations,
including longtime allies like England, France, Germany, Spain, Japan and
Australia.
The policy shift, which was announced in April and took effect on Thursday,
will affect about 13 million visitors each year from 22 European countries
as well as Brunei, Singapore, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, who can
currently travel to the United States for up to 90 days without a visa.
The change was made after intelligence reports indicated that terrorists
might take advantage of that provision, which allows travelers from Europe
and other industrialized countries to travel to the United States with
little scrutiny.
Until now, only travelers who needed visas to visit the United States were
fingerprinted and photographed at American airports in a program started in
January to ensure that suspected terrorists, criminals and violators of
immigration law do not enter the country. The program, which is now
expected to screen about 20 million foreign visitors at 115 airports and 14
seaports annually, is the latest security measure to affect foreign
visitors since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Last year, American embassies and consulates around the world began
collecting digital fingerprints from foreigners applying for visas.
And beginning this fall, officials will require overseas visitors at some
airports and seaports to be fingerprinted and photographed before they
leave the United States to monitor whether visitors are in fact returning
to their home countries.
"America has been a welcoming country and it continues to be one, but in
the post-9/11 era it has been necessary to make sure we know who is
traveling to our country," said Commissioner Robert C. Bonner, who directs
the customs and border protection unit at the Department of Homeland
Security.
Reaction from foreign governments was mostly muted. But some officials said
the policy raised privacy concerns. Japanese officials said they had asked
that the fingerprints and photographs be deleted when their citizens leave
this country.
"We understand the necessity of the U.S.'s new measures," Motohisa Suzuki,
who coordinates antiterrorism programs for Japan's Cabinet Office, said on
Thursday. But Mr. Suzuki added, "We need to be fully discreet about the
handling of the private information."
Airline and airport officials were bracing for longer lines on Thursday.
But customs officials, who surveyed about 20 airports on Thursday
afternoon, said that only 40 of the 1,500 flights reported slower than
normal waiting times attributed to the new procedures.
Officials noted, however, that September was typically a slow month for
overseas arrivals and that Thursday was typically a quiet travel day.
"So far, so good," said Joseph A. Cardinale, acting port director for
passport control at the Newark airport. "We've had the experience of doing
the fingerprints and the photographs for several months now, so it's not
new to the officers. That's a tremendous help.''
Tourists greeted the system with a mixture of nonchalance and irritation.
Bruce Reid, a 59-year-old doctor from Australia, said he did not object.
"I haven't got a criminal record, so it doesn't worry me much," said Dr.
Reid, who flew into Los Angeles.
Marleen Maas, 43, a homemaker from Frankfurt, disagreed.
"What's next? Are they going to take pieces of my hair, too?" asked Ms.
Maas, who flew into Miami to visit her daughter. "It didn't take long, but
it made me feel like a criminal."
In Newark, Marc Eisenchteter of Paris said the process moved efficiently.
Ms. Bohn agreed and said that despite her misgivings she would still return
to the United States.
"It was more easy to visit before," she said. "But I will still come back."
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R. A. Hettinga