On Mon, 05 Apr 2004 17:24:15 +1200, John wrote:

Harry Conover wrote:

John wrote in message ...
"WASHINGTON -- In a surprise move, the United States
will begin fingerprinting and photographing millions
of visitors from allied European and Pacific nations
who now are exempt from such procedures, Homeland
Security Department officials said Friday........

Since January, travelers from most foreign countries
have had their digital photographs and fingerprints
checked against U.S. security data bases. But 27
so-called ?visa waiver? countries -- whose citizens do
not have to obtain advance permission for most short
visits to the United States -- have been exempted.
That will no longer be the case after Sept. 30,
Homeland Security Under Secretary Asa Hutchinson
said. Hutchinson, who oversees border and transportation
protection, said the decision to end the exemption would
close what many people in the government consider to be
a loophole in screening, with minimum inconvenience for
arriving visitors........"

It's about time! Many European countries have been doing this for years.

Harry C.

Care to name any?

John

When was the last time you had to leave your passport with the front
desk at any motel/hotel in the US?

Gunner



"By calling attention to 'a well regulated militia', the 'security' of the
nation, and the right of each citizen 'to keep and bear arms', our founding
fathers recognized the essentially civilian nature of our economy. Although
it is extremely unlikely that the fears of governmental tyranny which gave
rise to the Second Amendment will ever be a major danger to our nation, the
Amendment still remains an important declaration of our basic
civilian-military relationships, in which every citizen must be ready to
participate in the defense of his country. For that reason, I believe the
Second Amendment will always be important."
-- Senator John F. Kennedy, (D) 1960