Brazil Starts Fingerprinting U.S. Travelers

Reuters/Yahoo ^ | 1/01/04 | Al-Reuters

[Dallas59]

Brazil Starts Fingerprinting U.S. Travelers 36 minutes ago Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!

BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazilian (news - web sites) police on Thursday began fingerprinting and photographing U.S. visitors on orders of a judge who compared planned U.S. security controls on travelers from Brazil and other nations to Nazi horrors.

Related Links • US-VISIT Program (dhs.gov)

Federal Judge Julier Sebastiao da Silva, furious at U.S. plans to fingerprint and photograph millions of visitors on entering the United States, ordered Brazil's authorities do the same to U.S. citizens starting on Thursday.

"We've begun doing this," said a Federal Police spokeswoman at Brazil's Guarulhos International Airport in Sao Paulo.

The judge's order came after Brazil's Federal Public Ministry filed a complaint in court over the U.S. measure.

The US-VISIT system is meant to identify people who have violated immigration controls, have criminal records or belong to groups listed as terrorist organizations by the United States.

Starting on Monday, people who need visas to enter the United States will be digitally fingerprinted and photographed when they pass through immigration at major U.S. airports and seaports.

The measure does not apply to citizens of 27, mainly European, nations who do not need a visa to enter the United States.

"I consider the act absolutely brutal, threatening human rights, violating human dignity, xenophobic and worthy of the worst horrors committed by the Nazis," said Sebastiao da Silva in the court order released on Tuesday.

Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Brazil were not immediately available to comment.

Federal Police in Sao Paulo were not able to confirm how many ports of entry had begun the controls and how many U.S. citizens had been fingerprinted and photographed so far.

The order by Sebastiao da Silva, a regional federal judge in the state of Mato Grosso, can be overturned by Brazil's justice system if he is considered to be acting outside of his powers, a Federal Police spokesman said.

Brazilian Foreign Ministry officials were not available to comment on the ruling, which urges the government to pressure the United States to exempt Brazilians from the US-VISIT system.

[Dallas59]

Brazil...Who cares.

[samtheman]

Cool. We stop going there, they stop coming here. Fair enough.

[gg188]

Travellers to Brazil have quickly figured out a sure-fire way around this fingerprinting if they wish to avoid it: don't go to Brazil.

[anymouse]

Well it looks like that trip to Rio for Carnaval is off. :)

Watch Brazil's tourism drop like a stone.

[EggsAckley]

My thought eggsackley............"so what....?"

[LoudRepublicangirl]

Since Brazil is not on my travel itinerary I simply do not care.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Reason 967 not to go to Brazil.

[LoudRepublicangirl]

And by the way, speaking of Nazi's, which continent took in the Nazi's as they were fleeing Europe like the cowards they were?

[Reagan Man]

Judge da Silva sounds like he's 12 years old. What an idiot! LOL

[Reagan Man]

That would be South America, specifically, Argentina.

[aruanan]

Judge da Silva sounds like he's 12 years old. What an idiot! LOL

"This thing the U.S. did is SO despicable--therefore, I'm going to do it, too!" Now that they've got Lula, they're going to go down the tubes in a big way.

[So Cal Rocket]

I was asked to go to Brazil for a month by a previous employer. Being the adventurous type, I quickly agreed to go and went to my company's Security Department to get the required "Foriegn Travel Briefing". Among the listings of Do's and Don't's for travelling to Brazil were these gems:

- Do not bring any jewelry, including wedding rings and watches.
- Do not take public transportation, including taxis.
- Always use the private car service hired by the company.
- When moving from point to point (such as a hotel to a meeting place), do not travel alone.

After reading these, I decided not to go.

[Steve Eisenberg]

And by the way, speaking of Nazi's, which continent took in the Nazi's as they were fleeing Europe like the cowards they were?

Brazil was the only country down there I can think of which was actively on our side on World War II. Unfortunately, anti-Americanism has long been rabid down there. The country has always been misgoverned and many prefer to bizarely blame all their problems on us.

[longtermmemmory]

Who cares? people who speak portugues?

Does Brazil still have hyper-inflation?

This does not bode well for Brazil joining NAFTA.

[Faraday]

"I consider the act absolutely brutal, threatening human rights, violating human dignity, xenophobic and worthy of the worst horrors committed by the Nazis," said Sebastiao da Silva in the court order released on Tuesday.

Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Brazil were not immediately available to comment. They were laughing too darn hard.

[Henrietta]

""I consider the act absolutely brutal, threatening human rights, violating human dignity, xenophobic and worthy of the worst horrors committed by the Nazis," said Sebastiao da Silva."

This guy really needs to get some perspective. Fingerprinting is hardly equal to being sent to the gas chambers.

[Dallas59]

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Gee, that's just a little different than, "Don't discuss classified information with people you met at a conference."

[Salvey]

Lula and Chavez are taking Brazil and Venezuela right down the old dumper -- and fast.

[RexRichard]

I plan to visit Brazil right after I visit Mexico....never. I value my life and property.