WASHINGTON (REUTERS) — The U.S. government will fingerprint, photograph and register tens of thousands of foreign visitors in an anti-terrorism policy that has angered Arab groups and some nations.
The program was launched in part on Sept. 11, a year after the attacks on New York and Washington, and put fully into effect around the world Tuesday, with immigration officials focusing on citizens of certain countries or those who fit a specific profile.
They include nationals of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria, five countries designated by the United States as “state sponsors of terrorism,” said Jorge Martinez, a spokesman at the Justice Department.
Between 100,000 and 200,000 people are expected to be registered in the first year, he said.
In addition, Martinez said people applying for non-immigrant visas who are thought to pose a national security risk may also be registered and fingerprinted.
He would not specify who might fit into that category.
However, a Sept. 5 memo from an Immigration and Naturalization Service official said the rules would pertain to people who have made unexplained trips to the five “state sponsors of terrorism” or to North Korea, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Yemen, Egypt, Somalia, Pakistan, Indonesia or Malaysia.
The registration policy was prompted by concerns about the lack of records on tourists, students and other foreign visitors after the Sept. 11 hijacked plane attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
All 19 hijackers entered the country on valid visas, but several stayed beyond their expiration dates.
The new program, announced by Attorney General John Ashcroft in June, outraged lawmakers and Arab and rights groups in the United States.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahatir Mohamad joined the critics Tuesday, saying the policy targeted Muslims unfairly.
“There is already a general anti-Muslim hysteria,” Mahatir said in Kuala Lumpur. “Because of the acts of a few people, the whole Muslim world seems to have been labeled.”
Under the program, immigration officers will make digital fingerprints of certain visitors and match them against a database of accused terrorists and criminals.
Those foreigners also will be subjected to a more intense immigration interview and will be required to register if they remain in the United States for 30 days.
Martinez said it was the beginning of a broader program to register all foreign visitors by 2005.
