Radio devices will help U.S. track visitors
crossing border
Christians Against Zionism - January 2005
Latest measure is decried as
'overkill' by some opponents
Lena Sin
The Province (Vancouver BC Canada)
Thursday, January 27, 2005
A radio-frequency device will be attached to the travel documents of foreign
visitors entering five U.S. entry points this summer in what American
officials say is a continuing effort to keep terrorists and criminals out.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced this week that they plan
to test a radio-frequency ID device at the Pacific Highway and Peach Arch
border crossings south of Vancouver by July 31.
The testing will also be carried out at Nogales East and Nogales West in
Arizona and Alexandria Bay in New York. If the trials are successful, the
technology could be applied to other entry points.
Like the biometric technology that was implemented Dec. 9 at the
B.C.-Washington border involving fingerprint scans and a digital photograph,
the latest
measure will not apply to Canadian citizens.
But that could change by 2008 as the Department of Homeland Security
considers making it a requirement for anyone entering the U.S. -- including
Canadian
citizens -- to carry a passport.
The idea behind the radio-frequency ID device is to track the entry and exit
of visitors and to provide a primary inspection process.
A small tag attached to travel documents will not contain personal or
biometric information, but rather a serial code that links to a federal
database,
which stores a visitor's personal information and is used to screen terrorists
and criminals.
"Through the use of radio-frequency technology, we see the potential to not
only improve the security of our country, but also to make the most important
infrastructure enhancements into the U.S. land borders in more than 50 years,"
said Asa Hutchinson, Homeland Security undersecretary.
Homeland Security maintains that the tags will not be used to track people.
The tag is also tamper-proof and difficult to counterfeit.
When asked why another security measure was needed, spokeswoman Anna Hinken
said it was a way of expediting customs processing while keeping security
tight.
But Murray Mollard, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties
Association, said the measure is "overkill" considering there hasn't been an
adequate
explanation for why it's needed in addition to the biometric security measures.
"From an accountability point of view, that's troubling," said Mollard.
"And the problematic aspect about it is any national jurisdiction authority
knows they can get away with this stuff because it's being applied to foreign
nationals and not locals."
The biometric measures are already in place at 50 U.S. land ports, 115
airports and 15 seaports. To date, 407 people have been arrested or denied
entry
because of the biometric technology.
