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Brazil Begins Fingerprinting U.S. Travelers
Yet more proof of the popularity of American foriegn policy...
Quote:
Brazil Begins Fingerprinting U.S. Travelers
BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil 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.
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 a Brazilian government citizen rights agency filed a complaint in federal court over the U.S. measure.
The US-VISIT system is meant to identify people who have violated immigration controls, have a criminal record or belong to groups the U.S. government lists as terrorist organizations.
Starting on Monday, people who need visas to enter the United States will be 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 on Brazil's decision.
Brazil requires U.S. citizens to have a visa when entering the country.
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"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."
The Gospel of Thomas
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