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Monday, Nov. 15, 2004

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  "It's OK," said Fabian Gonzales, a restaurateur from Monterrey, Mexico, who was among the first to be processed Monday morning on the U.S. side of Lincoln-Juarez International Bridge. "I hope this new process improves the security and also helps the tourists."

After a testing period in Laredo, Douglas, Ariz.; and Port Huron, Mich.; the Department of Homeland Security plans to expand the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program, or US-VISIT, to land crossings across the U.S. and Canadian borders.

"We always test first," said Anna Hinken, outreach manager for US-VISIT.

By Dec. 31, inkless fingerprint machines and digital cameras will be at the nation's 50 busiest land ports and at all 165 land border crossings by the end of 2005. It is already in effect at land and sea ports.

Things appeared to be going smoothly in Laredo on Monday as busloads of tourists from Mexico and Central America moved steadily through the lines for processing.

"You know there is the reason," 30-year-old Stefano Spaggiari of Modena, Italy, said, referring to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. "So you can wait."

After the 2001 terrorist attacks, Congress merged federal border security agencies and mandated a speedy system that would ID and record every foreigner who enters and leaves the United States.

Homeland Security is spending $340 million implementing the technology. Another $340 million has been allocated for 2005.

Business and political leaders in border cities fought the system when it was announced, fearing it would slow traffic and deter Mexicans who have made the impoverished Texas border one of the hottest retail spots in the nation.

Foes Blame Their 'Own Misinformation'

One business group, The Alliance for Security and Trade, commissioned a study finding that a 20 percent delay at the border would cost the U.S. border 375,000 jobs.

Each year, Laredo has 4.6 million pedestrians, 1.4 million trucks, 6.8 million private vehicles and more than 40,000 buses cross its four international bridges, according to Customs and Border Protection.

Those who've seen the new system say they no longer oppose it.

Supporters like how the scanners use data from passports and other documents to automatically complete paperwork that was before filled out by hand.

"At the very beginning we were led to believe, perhaps by the media or perhaps by our own misinformation, that this program was going to be bad for us," said Laredo Mayor Betty Flores, one of the program's loudest early critics. "From what I witnessed ... the program is going to be good for us."

97 Percent Exempt!

The biggest fear was allayed when Jim Williams, director of US-VISIT, assured that Mexicans holding Border Crossing Cards, or laser visas, would not be subject to the printing and photographing.

The cards allow Mexicans to enter the United States for short visits not more than 25 miles from the border in Texas, California and New Mexico, and 75 miles in Arizona. Mexicans traveling farther than that, however, require an "I-94" visa, which is filled out automatically by the US-VISIT scan.

Citizens of the United States and Canada, as well as anyone under age 14 or older than 79, are exempt from the new tests.

The exemptions account for 97 percent of border crossers, meaning 104 million of the 108 million people crossing each year from Mexico won't be affected, said Alfonso Martinez-Fonts, special assistant to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.

"We don't want to affect in any way the commerce of the region," said Martinez-Fonts, who was in Laredo Monday to oversee the implementation and report to Ridge.

Veronica Mercado, a 34-year-old traveling to Dallas from Guadalajera, Mexico, said the new system was much more streamlined.

"Before, we had to fill out the forms," he said. "If you made a mistake, then you'd have to start all over. This is a better, smoother, deal. It doesn't bother me at all."

© 2004 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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