65,398
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
m
no edit summary
In the article January 6, 2004, [ http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17484 article] '''Fortress America''', ''Alternet'''s Farai Chideya opens with the statement "I'm glad I got to see the world before it closed up shop." The reason for this being that, on that day, as Chideya says, "the United States began photographing and [[fingerprinting]] non-U.S. citizens as they entered the country." Named [[US-VISIT]] for "United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology" is intended to target an annual "estimated 24 million individuals [who will] have to pass two finger scans and have their photographs taken as they enter the United States. The government's hope is that it will catch terrorists and those who overstay their visas."
Following the events of [[September 11, 2001]], "the financial prospects for [[biometrics]] firms have soared. In much the same way that the war on Iraq has improved the fortunes of military outsourcing firms like" the [[Halliburton Company]]'s "subsidiary [[Kellogg, Brown and Root]], our nation's response to the September 11 attacks is feeding the coffers of biometrics firms - for an uncertain reward." According to [[Tom Ridge]], Director of the [[Department of Homeland Security]], "'As the world community combats terrorism ... you're going to see more and more countries going to a form of biometric identification to confirm identities.'"
