Fingerprinting of all foreigners entering the U.S.*

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*except Canadians, Brits, and the Japanese.

I know someone from another country who is pretty upset about this. She says she may not be visiting the U.S. any more (and had been thinking of coming here as a graduate student).

To be perfectly honest, I don't know much about travel rules, and it would not have surprised me if fingerprinting foreigners entering your country was a nearly universal practice. Why do I not have a strong reaction to this?

And the more important question: what do you think of this? What implications do you see? I really do get the sense that many foreigners are withdrawing from the U.S., or thinking twice before coming here.

― Rockist Scientist, Monday, 15 December 2003 04:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Didn't I hear something about how they were easing back on that? Or was that wishful thinking? Bullshit no matter how you slice it, of course.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 15 December 2003 04:39 (twenty-one years ago)

i could give a rat's ass to be honest. it's not like they're about to start dusting my dick

― the surface noise (electricsound), Monday, 15 December 2003 04:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Do you often worry about that scenario?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 15 December 2003 04:40 (twenty-one years ago)

They have other ways of tracking where your dick has been if that turns out to be necessary.

― Rockist Scientist, Monday, 15 December 2003 04:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Being fingerprinted wouldnt bother me, but I *am* a bit bothered at the *except Canadians, Brits, and the Japanese part (is this true? Cites someone???). Its either everyone or dont bother at all, fuckers.

― Trayce (trayce), Monday, 15 December 2003 04:42 (twenty-one years ago)

They have other ways of tracking where your dick has been if that turns out to be necessary.

not very far out of my hands, which is kinda my point. er, sorry/

― the surface noise (electricsound), Monday, 15 December 2003 04:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Its either everyone or dont bother at all, fuckers.

C'mon, those Andorrans scare me!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 15 December 2003 04:43 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm getting this directly from my friend, so I don't have any references yet. (She's not the half-cocked hysterical sort though.)

And I agree about "it's either everyone or don't bother."

― Rockist Scientist, Monday, 15 December 2003 04:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Everyone will eventually include all Americans, too, which is kind of creepy.

― Clarke B., Monday, 15 December 2003 05:05 (twenty-one years ago)

"kind of"? I find it extremely creepy.

― El Diablo Robotico (Nicole), Monday, 15 December 2003 05:21 (twenty-one years ago)

I suspect that authoritarian pipe dream won't pan out, though. They'll find other ways less immediately obvious (not that they haven't already).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 15 December 2003 05:22 (twenty-one years ago)

What the hell do they think passports are for - getting drinks in bars?!

― Trayce (trayce), Monday, 15 December 2003 05:44 (twenty-one years ago)

fingerprinting every canuk that goes into the u.s. seems like it will clog things up a touch at one of the longest (if not the longest) boarders on the planet.

― dyson (dyson), Monday, 15 December 2003 06:24 (twenty-one years ago)

I just arrived on Thursday morning on a Korean Air flight and it was weird seeing all the Koreans fingerprinted and scanned while I walked right through.

― Mike Stuchbery, Monday, 15 December 2003 07:06 (twenty-one years ago)

This is happening because the US, Canada, Japan and Britain are all into biometric info in passports by 2007.

― suzy (suzy), Monday, 15 December 2003 08:03 (twenty-one years ago)

thank you suzy - i was trying to figure out 'how'd they arrive at these three?'

― cinniblount (James Blount), Monday, 15 December 2003 08:05 (twenty-one years ago)

This makes me never want to leave the country again. I told my mother two years ago I'm not going back to the States until they have a regime change.

I have got to get a new passport SOON so I can get one before they do that scary biometric chip stuff.

― HRH Queen Kate (kate), Monday, 15 December 2003 09:21 (twenty-one years ago)

I was photographed and fingerprinted for my Visa, but I suppose that's to be expected. I also have to carry around a newly issued resident alien card that has a shiny gold strip on it.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Monday, 15 December 2003 21:16 (twenty-one years ago)

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