Brazil to fingerprint US citizens

BBC On Line ^ | Wednesday, 31 December, 2003 | staff writer

[yankeedame]

Last Updated: Wednesday, 31 December, 2003, 08:14 GMT

Brazil to fingerprint US citizens

US travellers will face tough immigration checks in Brazil

A Brazilian judge has announced that US citizens will be fingerprinted and photographed on entering the country. Judge Julier Sebastiao da Silva was reacting to US plans to do the same to Brazilians entering the United States.

He made the order after a Brazilian government office filed a complaint in a federal court over the new US immigration measures.

From 5 January, travellers from all countries which need a visa to enter the US will undergo the same checks.

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

The new security measures will come into effect on 1 January unless Mr Da Silva's ruling is challenged by the justice system.

Anti-terrorism

Washington's new rules are part of increased anti-terrorism measures.

They aim to identify people who have violated immigration controls, have a criminal record or belong to groups that WAshington has on its list of "terrorist" organisations.

An official from the US Department of Homeland Security said at least two of the 19 hijackers in the 11 September 2001 attacks could have been stopped if this security system had been in place.

It will not apply to citizens of 27 nations who do not require a visa to enter the US.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

Brazil? What state is that in?

South Texas?

[DB]

Fine with me.

Perhaps fewer Americans will travel there.

That will be the just reward.

What I find interesting is these people think they have a right to come here unimpeded. The sooner they figure out they don’t the better.

[sausageseller]

Indiana

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

When I've been paid ridiculously large sums of money to go there I've hated it.

If you can get to the far south it isn't too bad, but Rio and Sao Paulo are simply unflushable toilets.

You can walk on the beach in rio and if you only look at the ocean you might think it's nice, but don't go more than a block or two from the beach if you want to live.

However, if you want to see America's future at the rate we are going, visit Sao Paulo.

The Alpha people live in hilltop fortresses (Alphavilles) and the valley is like a cross between Road Warrior and Escape from New York.

[Teacher317]

Brasil has the right to do whatever it wishes with foreigners who enter the country of Brasil, short of harming them.

Ah, but he declared that doing so was as bad as anything the Nazis did... ergo, he thinks it IS harmful... and yet he imposes it as a matter of revenge, like any 7 year old child. That willingness to decry "Nazi-like" tactics while remaining perfectly willing to implement them says quite a bit about him and all of Brazil.

If this were a national policy for all immigrants, then it would be supportable. Singling out one nation's citizens clearly shows that the policy is aimed at political revenge and is the immature response of an unthinking spoiled brat.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

From an article by John Fitzpatrick
www.celt.com.br

The Brazilian Dream: To Live in a Fortress


To escape the threat of violence and crime many Brazilians dream of living in closed communities, such as Alphaville on the outskirts of São Paulo. The Alphaville concept was created 30 years ago and aimed at setting up the kind of suburban life style enjoyed by middle class Americans who had turned their backs on the inner cities.

Alphaville has been successful that it has spawned "franchised" communities in other areas of Brazil. The people who live there are usually middle-class Brazilians and expatriate businessmen. These places are generally spacious and families can live in houses instead of apartments and their children can walk and play in the streets with relative security from traffic and thieves.

Alphaville is not one community but actually a series of closed areas within a greater district, linked by road and open to the general public. This, in fact, gives it a less repressive atmosphere than some of the more exclusive closed areas. I once visited a place in Chácara Flora in São Paulo and was struck by the absence of people, except security guards, gardeners and maids, and the lifeless atmosphere. I was visiting a senior executive from a multinational company who lived with his family in a beautiful big house. In terms of their link to Brazilian society, they may as well have been in Los Angeles, Singapore or Moscow.

While I understand the motives of those who live in such communities, I feel think they are a sad reflection on the kind of society we now live in. Unfortunately, crime is making São Paulo a city of fear. People are staying at home more often and, when they do go out, choose shopping centers rather than risking going to a particular restaurant or cinema.

There was an interesting item in a newspaper a few months ago about Jamelli, a Brazilian football player for Corinthians, who had returned to São Paulo after five years in Spain. He confessed that he was no longer accustomed to the menace of crime and was so afraid of being held up in his car that he had stopped going out in the evenings.

Another player, from Uruguay, said his wife refused point blank to leave their apartment block because she was afraid. One of the reasons why this woman was frightened was because she was a regular viewer of sensationalist television programs shown early every evening, which highlight crime, violence and gory traffic accidents.

The TV stations have helicopters hovering over the city like vultures seeking out blood. One station recently followed police chasing a gunman who had escaped into a wooded area. The police shot him dead and, with the helicopter hovering a few feet above the scene, the cameras showed live coverage of the wretched thief's body being dragged through the undergrowth and thrown onto a stretch of road like a piece of garbage.

To cater to this fear of going out, new buildings are increasingly including a gymnasium and even a video rental store within the complex.


No Escape Crime


Closed communities like Alphaville are no guarantee against crime. An expatriate American businessman and his wife were murdered this week in a similar complex in Barra da Tijuca, an up-market place just outside Rio de Janeiro. In fact, places like this often attract gangs who usually rely on help from an insider, often a security guard, to gain entry. There are also signs that Alphaville is becoming a victim of its own success. As it has grown, the traffic has increased and high-rise buildings are now starting to appear among the houses.

To try and deal with the extra traffic on the nearby Castello Branco highway, one of the most dangerous and chaotic in Brazil, a private stretch of road was opened. However, drivers have to pay a toll of R$ 4.30 (U$ 1.50) to use it. This may not seem like much to a foreigner but, by Brazilian terms, it is a lot of money and has caused uproar among the residents.

There are now signs that it is not only the rich who are considering places like Alphaville. The current issue of the magazine Isto É Dinheiro contains an interview with the inventor of the Alphaville concept, Renato Albuquerque, who says he is now working on a project called Villas-Alpha for lower-income families.

The aim is to set up communities in Rio Grande do Sul, São Paulo and Bahia for families earning an average of R$ 2,400 a month (around US$ 800) at a cost of R$ 40,000 (around US$ 13,800).

[the invisib1e hand]

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

the left. so predictable. so self-righteous. if they start spouting off accusations, it's because they're guilty of the very thing they accuse others of. In this case, where did so many Nazi's find asylum? Was it not Brazil?

[steve-b]

I would like to fax my fingerprints to Brazil forthright so that I can be in compliance in advance of any Brazillian vacation that I might choose to embark upon at some later date. Does anybody have a fax number?

The scanning platform on our office fax machine is rather large, so using it for just a fingerprint would be overkill. How about a buttprint instead?

[Dan Evans]

Your rhetorical question fails to persuade because it is inaccurate. The new immigration policy proposed by the administration is not amnesty.

Maybe it is worse than amnesty. It creates a class of sub-citizens. I think that is a very bad idea.

[Protagoras]

Sounds fair to me. They have a right to make whatever border laws they choose, as do we. We have a choice not to go.

[dennisw]

I must run but my short answer is: Brazil is your standard rotten 3rd world nation no matter how friendly you found the natives. That's why Brazilians come here illegally (legally too) but Ameircans are not eager to re-locate to lovely sun drenched Brasil.

It's a one awy flow of people.

[Dan Evans]

ALREADY have generated a class of sub-citizens of the many illegal immigrants who have lived and worked here for decades. But let’s not forget why: the US economy benefits from it.

Yes, but the segment of the economy that benefits are the ones that are willing to look the other way when they know the law is being broken. Their competitors are at a disadvantage because they pay the full wage rate. So my next rhetorical question is: what will a nation look like when it allows dishonest people to prosper at the expense of honest people? I think it will start looking less like America and more like Mexico.

And, as you point out, the President's proposal creates a class of sub-citizens who cannot vote and work for sub-minimum wage.

[DeepDish]

Welcome to Freeperville, I see you registered today.

[Dan Evans]

Dishonest people prosper at the expense of honest people.

And the consequence of that is the mutual corruption of government and business. Even with our Wal-Mart and Enron scandals the US is still not as corrupt as Mexico (but we are gaining on them, fast). Corruption is the main reason the US is more prosperous than Mexico. Corruption ruins an economy. When dishonest people prosper they gain political power and that gives them the means to use government to stifle the competition, create monopolies, raid the public treasury, etc.

So my third rhetorical question is: What do we do about it?

Wal-Mart and dishonest employers gain an advantage over their competitors by breaking laws -- they employ people for less than the minimum wage. The solution is to do away with minimum wage laws. That would immediately remove the advantage the dishonest employers have because their honest competitors would be allowed to compete by taking advantage of the same low wage rates.

Minimum wage laws are either mischievous or unnecessary. If no one is willing to work for the minimum wage, then the law has no effect, but if there are people who are willing to work for less than the minimum wage, the law prevents a job from being created.

There are a lot of laws like this. Get rid of them and you get rid of corruption.

EXPENSE is made by the thousands of cow farmers in Brazil

I'm not familiar with this issue. What are you referring to?

[CalKat]

How is it not amnesty?