Ridge Seeks Fingerprints on Passports

[wicket]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=5&u=/ap/20050112/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/ridge_fingerprints

Outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Wednesday the United States should put the fingerprints of citizens traveling abroad on their passports.

"If we're going to ask the rest of the world to put fingerprints on their passports, we ought to put our fingerprints on our passports," Ridge told a room full of homeland security experts at a morning speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Asked what advice he would give to newly nominated Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff, Ridge added: "Be aggressive. ... It's a lot easier to negotiate with your allies if you've already done what you're asking them to do."

Ridge made the assertion just before he was to take off on a trip to build security ties with the European Union (news - web sites).

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. so along with all military and all criminals, now all passport

holders' fimgerprints will be on file.

Total Information, anyone?

[leftchick]

10. and all federal employees!

that is a LOT of fingerprints to keep track of!

[aden_nak]

2. And this will prevent forged passports. . . how?

[amazona]

3. it might help cut down on Americans being targeted for theft

I've heard a lot of stories about people being robbed in Amsterdam for example. Supposedly an American passport is worth $15,000.

You could be in for a lifetime of hassle if someone steals your passport and it gets into the wrong hands. Someone can be moving about the world and committing crimes under your identity.

It would be nice if there was a way that I could be sure that MY passport could only be used by me. Not sure if fingerprints are the answer but the U.S. passport is not as impressive and secure a document as it might be.

Agree this proposal wouldn't address the problem of forged passports.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[northzax]

4. this is a good idae, in a way

if we demand that other nations do this to travel to the US, we should do the same thing, don't you think?

I'd prefer retinal scans, actually.

[Redstone]

5. Fat chance

I'll sand my finger pads down, first.

Remember when it used to mean something to be an American citizen? When it meant that you had the protection of the Constitution?

Redstone

[LostinVA]

6. I Don't Agree with Fingerprinting

But I do agree with Ridge basically saying the US government is hypocritical by trying to force other countries to implement security measures which we refuse to.

Please do not take this as any liking for Ridge!

[cosmicdot]

7. and, he's off on a trip to Europe this late in the game because???? n/t

[scottxyz]

8. America - Land of the "Guilty Until Proven Innocent"

Getting fingerprinted used to be something that only lawbreakers had to go through.

Now, in a lot of states, you have to get fingerprinted to go on public assistance.

And now, if Ridge has his way, ANY American who wants to fly out of the country will have to go through the demeaning process of being fingerprinted.

People are going to love that - being treated like a common criminal just because they wanted to spend a week in Paris or London.

[Pachamama]

9. And so it begins....

How far off before DNA is required for our "Nat'l Identity Card"?

:eyes:

[hunter]

11. The only people checking those fingerprints will be our own government.

Mostly you need your passport to get back into this country, not out of it.

At some foreign custom station a very bored clerk reading a girlie magazine will ask me for a cigarette and then nod me past when I say I don't have one.

But when I come back from my vacation it will be like this:

So, Mr. Hamilton... welcome back. Why is it you wanted to leave our Great and God Fearing Nation, Mr. Hamilton? To visit your friends, you say, Mr. Hamilton? To sit on the beach and drink Margaritas, you say, Mr. Hamilton? To visit museums, you say, Mr. Hamilton?

Well, well, MISS...TER...HAM...EEL...TON... Don't you have any friends here in the UNITED STATES, Mr. Hamilton? And are there not some of the world's finest beaches and museums here in the UNITED STATES, Mr. Hamilton? Can you not purchase a very fine margarita here in these UNITED STATES, Mr. Hamilton?

Frankly, Mr. Hamilton, I am always curious about travelers like you, Mr. Hamilton. Why do you hate America so, Mr. Hamilton? Why would you leave, Mr. Hamilton?

Please, please place your thumb upon this pad, Mr. Hamilton. Give me your shoes, your wallet, and your bag, Mr. Hamilton. Good, now go stand in line number thirteen over there, Mr. Hamilton. We have some more questions we'd like to ask you, Mr. Hamilton.

God Bless our Glorious United States and all our Righteous Leaders and have a very nice day, Mr. Hamilton.

And, oh, by the way, Mr. Hamilton... Since you SEEM like such a nice fellow, Mr. Hamilton, let me give you some advice -- a full cavity search can be quite enjoyable if you do not resist, Mr. Hamilton.

[scottxyz]

14. Are you sure your last name isn't...

"S. Thompson", Mr. Hamilton??

Very good!

[robcon]

12. I agree. Passports should have fingerprints.

It will reduce fraud.

[Redstone]

13. Is reducing fraud more important

than the Fourth Amendment?

Just asking.

Redstone

[NYC]

15. To some people it is.

How does it reduce fraud unless your actual fingerprints are taken and compared to the passport each time you pass through?

What a world.

[hunter]

17. The greater the security, the greater the rewards for the fraud...

Also, the greater the security, the greater the complacency.

As a practical matter it is impossible to issue perfectly secure identity documents. Somewhere down the line, the work of issuing these documents will always be handled in some insecure matter.

Even if the government took a DNA sample of every newborn baby, there will always be corrupted areas in the database -- either by accident, or by design.

During our evolution human societies have developed so that they function even in situations where identification is not secure. Every human relationship is a leap of faith. We really do "trust our instincts" whenever we enter into some relationship. Any society that requires intrusive and complicated forms of identification is a society that is broken.

[Mz Pip]

16. I've been fingerprinted

for my jobs, my driver's license and wouldn't have a problem doing it for a passport. Because I work in education my fingerprints are probably in several data banks. I even had an FBI check done on me the last time I had my fingerprints taken for a job at a university.

Now a DNA databank I have a problem with. DNA can be planted much more easily than fingerprints.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[noonwitch]

22. I was for my job, too, and don't have a problem with it

The fingerprint on the passport might lead to a lower number of the searches in airports, at least on international flights. It may make it easier to target the right people for those searches.

[Eurobabe]

18. Outgoing Ridge the DORK photo

This guy has been asleep at the wheel since he was installed.

[Redstone]

19. You don't really need the photo...

it's pretty well-known that this guy is about a sharp as a catcher's mitt.

But that picture does illustrate it very well, doesn't it?

Redstone

[eauclaireliberal]

20. RE: "Ridge Seeks Fingerprints on Passports"

"If we're going to ask the rest of the world to put fingerprints on their passports, we ought to put our fingerprints on our passports"

Famous last words from an infamous boob.

[wicket]

21. kick

:kick: