July 16, 2004

An immigration program that requires foreign visitors to be fingerprinted and photographed when they arrive in the United States by air or sea, will soon be mandatory for those who come by land. Beginning in January, visitors entering the United States at the 50 busiest border crossings, including Blaine, will be subject to the same scrutiny given to those who fly into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and 114 other international airports or sail into 14 seaports nationwide.

US-Visit applies to foreigners who hold nonimmigrant visas for activities related to education, tourism and work.

It seeks to match a visitor's image and fingerprints against those in a database of wanted criminals and terrorists before allowing entrance into the country.

Attorneys, and others who advocate for immigrants, worry that potential technology foul-ups in the system may wrongfully reject innocent visitors.

And they raise concerns about how the procedures will affect those who attend the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, B.C., and hope to visit Seattle.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials yesterday said US-Visit is not intended to hamper tourism by spooking tourists and other visitors. Rather it should help identify potential terrorists and criminals, while ensuring that those who come into the country for specific lengths of time leave when that time is up.

"We are a welcoming nation, and we'll continue to be so," James A. Williams, director of US-Visit, told a group of stakeholders, including airline representatives and immigration attorneys, gathered at SeaTac Marriott yesterday. "If we build Fortress America, then the terrorists win."

More than 40 million foreign visitors would have been subject to US-Visit at land borders in 2003.

US-Visit grew out of a congressional mandate to curb illegal immigration before the Sept. 11 attacks. It evolved to include efforts to fight terrorism in the post-Sept. 11 era that saw the birth of the Department of Homeland Security.

The first phase of the program rolled out in January at 115 international airports and 14 seaports nationwide.

By September, visitors from 27 countries that don't require a visa to visit the United States — visitors from areas of Western Europe, Japan, Australia — will be folded into the program. Canadian citizens will continue to be exempt.

In January, the program will spread to the nation's 50 busiest border crossings, including two at Blaine where 2.3 million people cross annually. And by the end of next year, it should be in place at all land border crossings nationwide.

Since January, 6 million visa holders have been processed using digital imaging and inkless digital fingerprinting, Williams told the group. Of those, authorities got 600 hits on people who the database showed were on watch lists for any number of offenses — from immigration violations to drug trafficking and murder.

Officials are still testing the part of the system that would verify the visitors' exit from the country.

But Neha Chandola, legal director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, worries that system information that is not up-to-date or communication breakdowns between departments could create bigger headaches for some travelers.

Source - http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/