Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 19 May 2004
86 Mr. O’Shea asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his Department has been consulted with regard to the proposals by the US authorities that Irish persons travelling to the United States will be fingerprinted and photographed before being permitted to board US-bound planes; if his Department has given its approval for these arrangements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14561/04]
View answerMy Department was informed by the US Embassy in 2003, when the Department of Homeland Security, DHS, came into existence, that the US Government had intended, following the events of 11 September 2001, to make a number of changes to its immigration procedures. One such change was the implementation of the US-VISIT, United States visitor and immigrant status indicator technology, programme. On 2 April 2004, the US authorities further announced and informed my Department that it intended enrolling visa waiver travellers through the US-VISIT programme at all airports and seaports by 30 September 2004.
I understand that this programme is intended to allow the US authorities to record the entry and exit of non-US citizens into and out of the country and provides them with information about persons in the US who are in violation of their terms of admission. As the Deputy is aware, every State has the right to control the entry of non-nationals into its territory and to decide whether to impose specific requirements for certain nationalities to do so.
