01-11-2004, 04:59 AM
Is there a logical explanation for the 27 excludees, and the mention here of criminals?
Regarding the mention of wanted criminals: There are databases of people who have been charged with crimes but are still at-large. The person's photo and fingerprint would be part of the data assuming they are available. So if someone went through customs under the new system and their fingerprints matched something in the database, they could be arrested and transported to whatever jurisdiction they were charged in to stand trial. In practice, this won't apply to very many people. But I suppose a few foreigners who have criminal records will have to figure out a way to get into the country without going through this system.
Regarding the 27 excluded nations: Different countries have different relationships with each other, which results in different levels of security for going from one to the other. For example, the U.S. and Canada are (eh, usually) very friendly nations with a huge common border who do massive amounts of trade and travel over this border. Thus, the U.S. and Canada have agreements which allow each other's citizens to pass through customs without much difficulty. I think a birth certificate and some form telling your travel plan is all that is needed. People will go through customs for something as trivial as a good deal on cigarettes or gasoline. Making each Canadian get out of their car to have their photo and fingerprint taken would be very impractical. That would be the most extreme example, but the point is that when you go through customs in any country, your citizenship makes a big difference in how much paperwork you need to have prepared. So it should be no big surprise that your citizenship will also make a difference when it comes to this system.
US-VISIT will not be in place along all land borders in Mexico and Canada until December 2005. The majority of the 500 million people who enter the United States each year come across land borders.
What this means is that the system will be at ship ports and airports first, before they can put it at all the checkpoints on the roads to Mexico and Canada. So for now, a Brazilian could bypass the system by going to Mexico and then driving into the U.S. (he would still need his paperwork but the machine to take his photo and fingerprints wouldn't be there yet). The majority of people who enter the U.S. enter at the land borders, simply because the majority of people who enter the U.S. are either Canadian or Mexican.
Regarding the mention of wanted criminals: There are databases of people who have been charged with crimes but are still at-large. The person's photo and fingerprint would be part of the data assuming they are available. So if someone went through customs under the new system and their fingerprints matched something in the database, they could be arrested and transported to whatever jurisdiction they were charged in to stand trial. In practice, this won't apply to very many people. But I suppose a few foreigners who have criminal records will have to figure out a way to get into the country without going through this system.
Regarding the 27 excluded nations: Different countries have different relationships with each other, which results in different levels of security for going from one to the other. For example, the U.S. and Canada are (eh, usually) very friendly nations with a huge common border who do massive amounts of trade and travel over this border. Thus, the U.S. and Canada have agreements which allow each other's citizens to pass through customs without much difficulty. I think a birth certificate and some form telling your travel plan is all that is needed. People will go through customs for something as trivial as a good deal on cigarettes or gasoline. Making each Canadian get out of their car to have their photo and fingerprint taken would be very impractical. That would be the most extreme example, but the point is that when you go through customs in any country, your citizenship makes a big difference in how much paperwork you need to have prepared. So it should be no big surprise that your citizenship will also make a difference when it comes to this system.
US-VISIT will not be in place along all land borders in Mexico and Canada until December 2005. The majority of the 500 million people who enter the United States each year come across land borders.
What this means is that the system will be at ship ports and airports first, before they can put it at all the checkpoints on the roads to Mexico and Canada. So for now, a Brazilian could bypass the system by going to Mexico and then driving into the U.S. (he would still need his paperwork but the machine to take his photo and fingerprints wouldn't be there yet). The majority of people who enter the U.S. enter at the land borders, simply because the majority of people who enter the U.S. are either Canadian or Mexican.