A U.S. Customs and Border Security officer fingerprints a foreign national as part of the new US-VISIT program on Jan. 6 at the Los Angeles International Airport. The US-VISIT was implemented across the country on Jan. 5 to confirm the identity of foreign visitors traveling to the U.S. by fingerprinting and photographing upon their arrival. (Photo: AFP)

The United States began fingerprinting and photographing visitors from most countries on Jan. 6 in an unprecedented program to try to prevent potential terrorists from slipping in by plane or ship. The controversial new measures, ordered by Congress in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked plane attacks, were launched at 115 airports and 14 cruise ship ports across the country.
An estimated 24 million foreigners who need a visa to enter the United States could be forced to submit to the digital-based photo and inkless fingerscans this year, according to the Department of Homeland Security, which is overseeing implementation of the new security controls.
Tourists and business travelers on short visits from 27 mostly European nations are exempt from the new measures, as are Canadians, who fall under special immigration rules.
It is the first time a country has embarked on wide-scale use of fingerprinting and photography to identify visitors, in this case using a digital technology known as biometrics.
The prospect of an extra, more cumbersome layer of border security has triggered fears of increased congestion at points of entry as well as complaints of bias against the developing world.
[New York City Councilman Dr. Kendall B. Stewart said in a press release: “I applaud any effort to improve and enhance the security of America and to safeguard the lives of our people. I also do not take kindly to people who break our laws ---- immigration or others. But I must resolutely condemn any program or policy that posits itself as a means to improve our security that is racist in its implementation while masquerading under the guise of ‘fighting terror...’ “The moment the DHS (Department of Homeland Security) exempted the countries of Europe and Canada and lumped the rest of the Brown and Black world into one category for special and particular treatment, it sent a wrong message.”