Sometimes I find myself in agreement with the direction of US policies. However, the lack of notification and failure to include such stalwart nations as Saudi Arabia (remember the nationality of the hijackers?) exemplified by this directive leaves oh-so-much to be desired...

Deadline Nigh for INS Program
By Ryan Singel 02:00 AM Dec. 16, 2002 PT
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,56859,00.html


Monday marks an important deadline for almost 3,000 men ages 16 and up who are visiting the United States from five countries designated as sponsors of terrorism.

They must register with the Immigration and Naturalization Service's new biometric immigration database or face fines and deportation.

Under the National Security Entry Exit Registration System, launched on the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the government must maintain photographs and fingerprints of all male visitors from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria and Sudan. Another 13 countries were added to the list in October with a compliance deadline of Jan. 10.

Participants are digitally photographed and fingerprinted so that investigators can determine whether they fit the profile of suspected terrorists, as well as aliens with criminal records.

So far, 179 individuals have been detained after registering, but none turned out to be terrorists, said Jorge Martinez, a spokesman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

The creation of the INS program is the first step in a process that will include the integration of the system's database with the FBI's data on 40 million criminals.

Congress directed that the databases be merged after a notorious 1999 case wherein the INS deported a wanted serial killer, who later returned and killed four more people. However, a number of significant hurdles, both technical and political, must be cleared before that can happen.

The INS system contains two flat (digitally scanned) fingerprints of each person, whereas the FBI's database stores 10 fingerprints rolled in ink of each person. That makes it difficult to conduct searches across both databases.

In addition it takes around two hours to search the FBI's database, which is too long for the INS purposes.

On the political front, the INS system is under fire from both liberals and conservatives.

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) has expressed anger that Saudi Arabia was kept off the list of nationalities being monitored, even though 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 terrorists were Saudi nationals.

A leaked Justice Department directive, first published by WorldNetDaily, indicated both Saudi Arabia and Pakistan would be added to the list in October. Neither were added, however, and Martinez refused to comment on the document.

Hussein Ibish, spokesman for Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, said the list is discriminatory because it only includes Muslim countries, along with North Korea.

Dan Stein, executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a conservative group, has also criticized the system for its narrow focus on a handful of targeted nations.

Both Ibish and Stein think the INS system should monitor visitors from all countries outside the U.S.

They may soon get their wish. Under the Enhanced Border Security Act of 2002, the government is required to develop an automated information system called Chimera that places machine-readable biometric identifiers in all visas and passports by 2004. The General Accounting Office estimates Chimera will cost between $6 billion and $11.5 billion to build.

However, the same technical issues preventing the INS from integrating its data with the FBI's information are making it difficult to put Chimera into practice, officials said.

To solve this dilemma, the Justice Department is considering a plan to digitally capture the equivalent of 10 rolled prints, which would be a significant step toward a successful integration.

Still, the INS would still need to find a way to check these prints in minutes, not hours.

Even then, as with all biometric systems, fingerprint identification isn't foolproof. A recent Federal Aviation Administration prototype system missed 18 to 36 percent of correct matches in a recent test. It also issued false positives in up to 8 percent of cases.




...and the rest of the juicy detalis from the INS...
http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/lawenfor/specialreg/index.htm


Your Portal to Information on Special Registration Procedures for Certain Nonimmigrants

What is Special Registration?
Special Registration Groups and Procedures

Call-in Group 2 (added 11/22/02): Citizens or Nationals of Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, Lebanon, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen
Who Must Register (Group 2)?
Call-in Group 2: Special Registration Procedures
Call-in Group 1 (added 11/6/02): Citizens or Nationals of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria
Who Must Register?
Call-in Group 1: Special Registration Procedures
Individuals Registered at a U.S. Port of Entry
Who Will Be Registered?
Special Registration Procedures for Individuals Registered at a Port of Entry
Special Registration Laws, Regulations and Instructions
Special Registration-related Law and Regulations
Special Registration-related Documents
Special Registration-related Instructions
WHAT IS SPECIAL REGISTRATION?

Special Registration is a system that will let the government keep track of nonimmigrants that come to the U.S. every year. Some of the approximately 35 million nonimmigrants who enter the U.S. – and some nonimmigrants already in the U.S. -- will be required to register with INS either at a port of entry or a designated INS office in accordance with the special registration procedures. These special procedures also require additional in-person interviews at an INS office and notifications to INS of changes of address, employment, or school. Nonimmigrants who must follow these special procedures will also have to use specially designated ports when they leave the country and report in person to an INS officer at the port on their departure date.

Please note the following:

Another group of countries has been recently identified and its citizens and nationals will be required to follow special registration procedures.


Special Registration of certain individuals from certain countries at U.S. ports of entry continues. Those visitors already in the U.S. who were registered at a port of entry on or after September 11, 2002 are still subject to Special Registration procedures required at their time of entry and during their stay in the U.S.
SPECIAL REGISTRATION GROUPS AND PROCEDURES

CALL-IN GROUP 2 (added 11/22/02): CITIZENS OR NATIONALS OF Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, Lebanon, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen

Who Must Register (Group 2)?

If you are in this category you must register at a designated INS Office between December 2, 2002 and January 10, 2003.

If you are a male born on or before December 2, 1986, and


If you were inspected by the INS and last admitted to the U.S. as a nonimmigrant on or before September 30, 2002


If you did not apply for asylum on or before November 22, 2002, and


If you will be in the U.S. at least until January 10, 2003.


Special Call-in Registration Procedures for Certain Nonimmigrants: Call-In Group 2

The following document contains details and procedures for Call-In Group 2:

Call-In Group 2: Notice and Special Registration Procedures (12/03/02)

Additional Information of Interest to Special Registration Call-in Group 2:

Questions and Answers (on Special Call-in Registration Procedures)(11/26/02)
List of Designated INS Interviewing Offices for Special Registration
List of Designated Ports of Departure and Exit Information (detailed)
AR-11 SR – to report a Change of Address, Employment, or Educational Institution
CALL-IN GROUP 1 (added 11/6/02): CITIZENS OR NATIONALS OF Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria

Who Must Register?

If you are in this category you must register at a designated INS Office between November 15, 2002 and December 16, 2002.

If you are a male born on or before November 15, 1986, and


If you were inspected by the INS and last admitted to the U.S. as a nonimmigrant on or before September 10, 2002,


If you did not apply for asylum on or before November 6, 2002, and


If you will be in the U.S. at least until December 16, 2002.
Special Call-in Registration Procedures for Certain Nonimmigrants--Call-In Group 1

The following document contains details and procedures for Call-In Group 1:

Call-In Group 1: Notice and Special Registration Procedures (11/26/02)

Call-In Group 1: Notice and Special Registration Procedures (11/26/02)(Arabic)

Call-In Group 1: Notice and Special Registration Procedures (11/26/02) (Farsi)

Additional Information of Interest to Special Registration Call-in Group 1

Questions and Answers (on special call-in registration procedures) (11/26/02)
List of Designated INS Interviewing Offices for Special Registration
List of Designated Ports of Departure and Exit Information (detailed)
AR-11 SR – to report a Change of Address, Employment, or Educational Institution
INDIVIDUALS REGISTERED AT A PORT OF ENTRY

Who Will Be Registered?

Citizens or nationals of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria.


Nonimmigrants who have been designated by the State Department


Any other nonimmigrant identified by INS officers at airports, seaports and land ports of entry in accordance with 8 CFR 264.1(f)(2).
Special Registration Procedures for Individuals Registered at a Port of Entry

If you were registered at a port of entry, please see the following details and procedures:

How to Comply
30 Day and 1Year Interviews
List of Designated INS Interviewing Offices for Special Registration
Change of Address/Employer/School
Departing the United States
Non-Compliance
SPECIAL REGISTRATION LAWS, REGULATIONS and INSTRUCTIONS

Special Registration-related Law and Regulations (in reverse chronological order)

FR Notice 11/22/02 Registration of Certain Nonimmigrant Aliens from Designated Countries
FR Notice 11/6/02 Registration of Certain Nonimmigrant Aliens from Designated Countries (Special call-in registration for certain temporary residents already in the U.S.)
FR Notice 9/30/02 (Designation of special registration ports-of-departure)
FR Final Rule 8/12/02
FR Proposed Rule 6/13/02
Text of the USA PATRIOT Act (Pub. L. 107-56) 10/26/01
Special Registration-related Documents (in reverse chronological order)

INS Reminds Certain Temporary Foreign Visitors of Eighteen Countries of Registration Requirement 12/6/02
INS Reminds Certain Temporary Foreign Visitors of Eighteen Countries of Registration Requirement (Arabic Version) 12/6/02
INS Reminds Certain Temporary Foreign Visitors of Eighteen Countries of Registration Requirement (Farsi Version) 12/6/02
Call-In Notice and Procedures for Special Registration Group 1 (11/26/02) (Arabic)
Call-In Group 1: Notice and Special Registration Procedures (11/26/02) (Farsi)
Call-In Notice and Procedures for Special Registration Group 2 (11/26/02)
Call-In Notice for Procedures for Special Registration Group 1 (11/26/02)
Questions and Answers (on Special Call-in Registration Procedures) (11/26/02)
Special Registration Procedures 9/11/02 (Short Version)
Special Registration Procedures 9/11/02 (Short Version) (Spanish)
Special Registration Procedures 9/11/02 (Short Version) (French)
Special Registration Procedures 9/11/02 (Short Version) (Arabic)
List of Designated INS Interviewing Offices for Special Registration (updated 11/26/02)
List of Designated Ports of Departure and Exit Information (detailed) (updated 11/26/02)
Attorney General Ashcroft Announces Implementation of the First Phase of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (Department of Justice) 8/12/02
Attorney General Announces National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (Department of Justice Issued Prepared Remarks) 6/5/02
National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (Department of Justice Fact Sheet) 6/5/02
Special Registration-related Instructions

AR-11 SR – to report a Change of Address, Employment, or Educational Institution
To view and print Special Registration Procedures for All Call-In Groups
To view and print Special Registration Procedures for Individuals Registered at a Port of Entry



...hmmmmmm. Any thoughts on this one?