US:Foreign visitors arriving at Washington's Dulles airport yesterday had all 10 fingerprints scanned as part of an enhanced security screening system that will be extended to nine other United States airports early next year.
Until now, foreign visitors to the US have had the index fingers of each hand scanned every time they enter the country but the department of homeland security says the new system will give authorities a more accurate picture of who is entering the US.
"The transition from collecting two digital fingerprints to collecting 10 fingerprints from international visitors is one of the department's top priorities because it furthers the department's ability to keep dangerous people out of the United States, while making legitimate travel more efficient," the department said.
US authorities predict that the new system will not increase the time required for visitors to pass through immigration and customs but some US business groups fear that the extra fingerprinting will prove an added disincentive to visit the country. Discover America, a group that promotes tourism to the US, says that a 17 per cent drop in foreign visitors since September 11th 2001 has cost the country $100 billion and 200,000 jobs.
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