FWIW, I would never visit the US. The immigration rules are insane, and I wouldn't want the legal liability of accidentally not crossing a T or dotting an I on an immigration form.
Fortunately, I suppose, I'm a citizen, and other countries aren't dumb enough to inflict such terror on their guests. If they did, I wouldn't visit those either. (It's really and interesting case study in what a great idea the Constitution is. It doesn't apply to immigration and customs, supposedly, so those agencies act like a mutant Hitler-Stalin lovechild. The rest of the government, though, does a pretty good job. They pass a retarded law, and the Supreme Court strikes it down.)
I apologize. I consider myself personally at fault for allowing my government to do this. It's a shame that non-citizens are not given the same "freedom from government" that citizens are. It's what makes America great, and it's unfortunate that we don't share it.
Oh well, when I overthrow the government one day...
It gets worse really... I'm from a first world, priviledged country and a member of the visa waiver program which means it's actually easy for me to enter the US. I can't even imagine what it's like for citizens of many countries.
Agreed, I'm from the UK but have immigrated to Canada (I believe finger prints are only ever required by the police when performing a full criminal history check when applying for citizenship; there was no such mention of it during my PR application process) and the thought that a 5-hour drive can land me having to be finger printed just to visit is very barbaric. I've walked past police with machine guns in airports and that doesn't cross me nearly as unnerving as having to give my finger prints.
It's not that I'm worried for anything I've done, I have had police checks performed (twice from the UK) and I come up clean because I've never had a problem with the police and I've never committed a crime. What worries me is that our governments have data sharing policies, as soon as I'm finger printed entering the US I have little doubt that they've been entered into a database back in the UK as well.
I dislike the thought that someone will be capable of checking up on me behind my back. I can understand why the US would want it, even if it seems exceptionally barbaric, but it's that the UK and possibly Canadian or other governments will be checking up on if my fingerprints have appeared anywhere. Precisely because after the Madrid bombings an Oregon based lawyer was arrested on an 'incontrovertible match' by the FBI based on prints lifted and arrested him, however completely ignored the fact (for two weeks!) that he hadn't left the country - he matched because he was an Islamic convert and his wife was Egyptian born, his fingerprint never matched at all.
My figuring is that the longer my fingerprints stay out of any national or international registry, the less chance I have of being hassled during my lifetime because of a government screw up with the data.
Why do so many feel this is exceptionally barbaric?
More like exceptionally emotional. Really, I'm not trying to start an argument, but this tangent seems both off-topic and unappreciative of the fact that no country (AFAIK) is obligated to permit foreign visitors. That said, to the extent the US can encourage well intentioned, law abiding foreigners to visit, I believe that it significantly adds to the culture, economy and general health of the society. Besides, isn't the information exposed by a fingerprint a far cry from that exposed by DNA?
It's barbaric because it's pointless and invasive. You're worried I might commit a crime? I don't recall seeing tourism cited as the reason your prisons are overflowing.
But beyond that visas themselves are stupid. There is no humanity behind visas, just mindless and impersonal bureaucracy designed to protect us and our countries from nobody - they don't stop anyone with bad intentions, they don't stop anyone intending to stay illegally. All they do is artificially limit you whether it's in your exploration of a foreign culture or you're the founder of graphic.ly.
I travel a lot, I love the world and I love seeing and being a part of as much of it as I can afford to. But I hate visas.
Doing things the legal way left me unemployed for over a year and a half, however if I had done things the illegal way I could have been working that full year and still gotten in as a legal citizen without any consequences and it's that hypocritical bullshit of penalizing the law abiding immigrants as to why there are so many illegal immigrants.
Someone from an economically poor background, from a country with a corrupt police system is never going to abide by an immigration law if it makes them poorer and looks more corrupt. It's asinine.
It's also worth pointing out that Citizenship and Immigration Canada is currently facing a class action lawsuit for profiteering off of issuing visas when by law they can only serve them at cost.
I know in the airports I've passed through in France, Spain and Turkey, the police were in full bulletproof vests and had personal defence weapons, tasers, batons and pepper spray, but were always very nice and polite.
Entering Canada the police only have vests, handguns and tasers, and aren't nearly as polite.
The one time I entered the US (before this whole fingerprinting bullshit started) they had vests, handguns and pepper spray (I can't remember if tasers were issued into service at that point, but I didn't see them) and were rude as all hell. All I know is that post 9/11 I expect them to be ruder, and adding fingerprinting to the process might as well be substituted for a complimentary whack over the head with a baton.
I've got an American friend who once got the "American treatment" at a Chinese border. They told him it was specifically because of all the pains Chinese people have to go through when they go to the US.
I transited China once, without a visa and any papers that proved I had an onward flight. I was asked to go over to a special area, where 10 different immigration officials looked at my passport. A minute or so later... they stamped it, and I was free to go. No problems at all.
"Brazil tends to reciprocate the behavior of the other country. IIRC, they only fingerprint US citizens, because that's what the US does to Brazilians."
Good for them. I wish the Indian government (and every government on the planet) would have the cojones to do this. The USA treats visitors very badly.
Fortunately, I suppose, I'm a citizen, and other countries aren't dumb enough to inflict such terror on their guests. If they did, I wouldn't visit those either. (It's really and interesting case study in what a great idea the Constitution is. It doesn't apply to immigration and customs, supposedly, so those agencies act like a mutant Hitler-Stalin lovechild. The rest of the government, though, does a pretty good job. They pass a retarded law, and the Supreme Court strikes it down.)
I apologize. I consider myself personally at fault for allowing my government to do this. It's a shame that non-citizens are not given the same "freedom from government" that citizens are. It's what makes America great, and it's unfortunate that we don't share it.
Oh well, when I overthrow the government one day...