NCJ Number
213118
Date Published
2005
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This chapter critically examines the collection of personal identification data by the U.S. National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), concluding that it is an overreaction to the September 11th terrorist attacks and a violation of the rights of those subject to registration.
Abstract
On June 5, 2002, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the creation of the NSEERS. NSEERS collects and stores biographical data and facial images and fingerprints of select foreign nationals who are visiting or residing in the United States on temporary visas. Because all of the 19 terrorist involved in the September 11th attacks entered the United States on valid temporary visas, NSEERS was promoted as a program to enable the improved monitoring of all such persons in the future. On January 5, 2004, the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program (US-VISIT) was implemented to succeed NSEERS. Both programs collect detailed biographical information, fingerprint scans, and facial photographs of persons entering the United States. The data collected by US-VISIT are obtained from individuals who enter the United States legally at official points of entry. Individuals registered at ports of entry are processed through separate lines, where they are fingerprinted and photographed. Registration procedures are selective, however, tending to focus on Arab and Muslim men, who are singled out, coded, and registered as potential threats to national security. This overtly discriminatory collection of personal data and subsequent monitoring of movements involves the negative labeling of selected groups of people who enter the United States and subjects them to targeted monitoring without regard to any objective indication that they pose a threat to public safety. Such a collection of surveillance data is a violation of human rights in a democratic society. 1 table, 6 notes, and 31 references