Last week US immigration authorities began the US-VISIT program, which electronically photographs and fingerprints foreign travelers at airports and seaports.  The program was introduced in 115 airports and at cruise ship terminals at 14 seaports.

The program is aimed at visitors who arrive in the United States on visas and is designed to allow immigration authorities to quickly check if an arrival has a criminal background, is on a terror watch list or is using a false name.

Information obtained by immigration authorities will be securely stored and made available only to authorized officials.  The start of the program comes more than two weeks after the Bush administration put the nation on high alert for a terrorist attack.  Since then, several international flights from Britain, France and Mexico have been canceled because of security concerns. The US-VISIT program has already prompted Brazil to retaliate by imposing similar security measures on US travelers. 

The program was first tested at the Atlanta airport late last year, and the trial run turned up 21 people on the FBI’s criminal watch list for crimes such as drug offense, rape and visa fraud, according to Homeland Security officials.  During the trials, the system added an average of about 15 seconds to arrival processing, according to the government.

The departure component of US-VISIT is supposed to take effect by the end of 2004.  Visitors leaving the country will be required to have their fingerprints scanned at special kiosks.  Arrival and departure information would then be automatically reconciled.  The government expects to reduce the number of foreigners who overstay their visas.  Overstays account for about a third of the estimated 10 million illegal immigrants in the US

US citizens and green card holders will not be subject to US-VISIT, and neither will people from 27 countries whose citizens are not required to have visas to travel to the United States.

At the request of border-area groups, the government is considering a recommendation to exempt Mexican citizens who hold a US border-crossing card from US-VISIT.  Holders of the card, who generally have strong work-related or family ties in the United States, account for about 30% of all land crossings.