U.S. begins fingerprinting most visitors

January 7, 2004 D. H. McKee

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Foreigners entering U.S. airports and seaports from all but 27 nations were having their fingerprints scanned and their photographs taken beginning Monday as part of a new program to tighten border security.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, who was in Atlanta to help launch the program at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, said Monday on NBC’s “Today” show that the pilot program before the formal launch had led to 21 foreigners’ being denied entry because they had earlier been deported for criminal or other legal issues.

“We want to keep our borders open. We are a welcoming country, but we want to secure the country as well,” Ridge said. “We want them to come to the United States to work and to visit and to study, but we also need to make sure we have a record of who comes into the country and when they leave.”

Most passengers breezed through the fingerprinting and picture-taking Monday, spending only a few seconds more than they normally would at the Customs station where they were asked about their visits.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3875747/

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As a guy who occasionally curates art shows and wrangles artists together, I often have to edit and post artist bios, profile pictures, and artwork images. This can be a problem, since many artists and writers aren’t used to selling themselves. Artists rarely know how to present their art for display in a brochure, and writers aren’t used to writing about themselves.

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Like blogs of old, this one is a personal document of the comings and goings of me. Articles I’ve written, links I’ve posted, videos I liked, etc. Here, a first-person perspective is the way to go, at least for now. So, this is my site. I’m D. H. McKee, a sometimes artist, sometimes writer. Mostly just a guy on the internet.