Under the new US-VISIT program, already in use at many airports and seaports, visitors from certain countries must be fingerprinted and photographed before entering the United States. The security system is to be expanded this year to the busiest land entry points as well, and that would have affected the many Mexicans who regularly travel back and forth with border-crossing cards.
Friday, White House spokesman Scott McClellan had said the administration was strongly considering a proposal under which the multi-use visas that those frequent Mexican travelers have could be used in place of the US-VISIT border checks. The documents already require background checks, fingerprinting and photographs.