Increased security surrounds returns to the U.S.

International students returning to Tufts this semester were confronted by a controversial set of U.S. entry regulations implemented as part of a new Homeland Security Department anti-terrorism program.

Launched in early January, the US-VISIT program mandated several new entry procedures for certain travelers. Visa holders and visitors from select countries must now be fingerprinted and photographed upon arrival in the United States. By Jan. 5, the new entry procedures were in effect at 115 airports and cruise ship terminals at 14 seaports.

According to the Homeland Security Department website, the new procedures will "help protect the nation against those who intend to harm American citizens or visitors to our country." Information obtained at customs check points will be checked against a database of possible terrorist threats.

Although Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told the Atlanta Journal Constitution the new system will be "easy for travelers to use" and in most cases adds only 15 seconds to traditional entrance procedures, many worry the new measures will slow travelers already bogged down by frequent security checks and long customs lines. Lixiang Bu, a graduate student at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, experienced some of these delays while traveling to Tufts from China earlier this month. Although he arrived on schedule, Bu said he witnessed another passenger miss his plane because of what he called a "troublesome entrance procedure."

The majority of Tufts students, however, had few complaints about the process itself. "[It was] simple and straightforward," freshman Carolina Fowler said. Fowler, from Brazil, described having to place her right and left index finger on a machine for several seconds, then having her photo taken. "It took maybe five minutes for the whole process," she said.

Although many agree the process itself is relatively quick and painless, others find the implications of its policies problematic. Visitors from a select list of 28 countries, including New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom, are currently exempt from the new photograph and fingerprinting measures. This has prompted many to wonder how effective the regulations can really be.

"Who's to say that there isn't someone [from one of those 28 countries] that is a terrorist? They're not getting screened and that's an issue," Director of Tufts' International Office Jane Etish-Andrews said.

Andrews believes the new process has both good and bad points. While she feels the policy is good for national security, Etish-Andrews said she anticipates problems for foreign students in the future.

"One concern is that if there's a data mix-up and one student is coded as a threat to national security, there isn't a clear way that it can be corrected," Etish-Andrews said. "How are we going to help our students if there are errors that are made? I'm nervous about that."

"I think that the US-VISIT regulations are implemented just to keep Americans scared," International Club Public Relations Officer Gabriel Mas added. "In the end, it gives people a favorable opinion of the government when... these measures are just useless, unfair, and inhospitable to visitors," Mas said.

However, there are international students who think the new policies have some merit. "The United States has been threatened" and is taking measures to defend itself, Fowler said. "In the beginning some people have expressed that they feel discriminated against when they are 'randomly' selected for extra security checks due to how they look, but if that were to happen to me I would have no problem with it."

Additionally, Etish-Andrews questioned the impact this entrance process will have on the U.S. market for higher education. "This is a $14 billion industry," Etish-Andrews said. "Are we going to jeopardize that by making it so difficult to come and study [in the U.S.] that we lose students?"

The Department of Homeland Security has called for the US-VISIT plan to be fully implemented by 2005.