Green card holders to be fingerprinted
By: Lurdes C. da Silva 01/02/2009

WASHINGTON - Starting this month, green card holders could be required to provide their fingerprints, photos and other biometric data when they arrive at a U.S. port of entry for identification purposes.

The new rule, which was recently published in the U.S. Federal Register, will take effect on Jan. 18.

The new measure is part of the expanded Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology, or US-VISIT program. Launched in 2003, US-VISIT's purpose was to verify the identities and travel documents of visitors, including those who entered the country under the Visa Waiver program.

The change in policy to include lawful permanent residents (LPR), or green card holders, has drawn heavy criticism.

"The idea that lawful permanent residents, immigrants who have been living in the United States for years, will be subject to fingerscans and other biometric data collection procedures when traveling to and from the U.S. is simply wrong and borders on the absurd," said Charles H. Kuck, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

For Kuck, the expansion of this "unproven" program is premature.

"A bedrock principle in our society is freedom from government intrusion without reason. The sole reason permanent residents will be singled out for data collection is the fact that they are not yet United States citizens. Without any suspect wrongdoing, the U.S. Government will now collect biometric data from lawful permanent residents each time they enter the United States; privacy is not extinct."

Kuck is not alone.

According to the Federal Register notice, of the 71 comments received during the comment period, 32 urged that green card holders be exempt based on their status because they have previously been subject to significant security checks in order to obtain LPR status. Some commentators stated that there is no evidence that LPRs pose a threat to the level that they "should be grouped with" non-immigrants who are subject to US-VISIT.

However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) maintains the new measure is entirely relevant because it continues to uncover significant immigration document fraud, particularly in relation to permanent resident cards, the notice stated.

Common examples include giving or selling a permanent resident card to someone else, altering a lost permanent resident card, and using a fraudulently created permanent resident card.

"DHS has substantially increased the security features on permanent resident cards in recent years, but security features are not fool-proof. Including LPR's within the scope of US-VISIT processing will enable DHS to detect, deter, and act against those who attempt fraud through the biometric match of the person presenting the (card) against the record of the person to whom that card was issued," the notice states.

Federal officials also maintain that the US-VISIT will enable DHS to determine if an LPR seeking entry has been convicted of any crime that would render the individual subject to removal from the United States. In addition, DHS is concerned about attempts by terrorist and transnational criminal organizations to recruit LPRs, who are perceived to be subject to less scrutiny in travel.

US-VISIT is now operational for entry at 115 airports, 15 seaports, and 154 land border ports of entry.

http://www.ojornal.com/site/news.cfm?ne ... 3384&rfi=6