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General discussion

Will we now have to screen French citizens entering the U.S.?

Apr 18, 2004 10:13AM PDT

Maybe so; you see, France has the largest Islamic immigrant population in Europe, mostly immigrants (legal and otherwise) from North Africa. That population has a long track record of support for and/or participation in Islamofascist groups. And now comes this: Thousands of French passports, drivers' licenses stolen, not yet recovered:

Nearly 10,000 blank French passports were stolen in February, leading the FBI to warn U.S. law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout.

"These stolen passports are of particular concern because France participates in the Visa Waiver Program that allows visitors from 27 nations to enter the United States for pleasure for 90 days without a visa," the FBI said in the warning issued Wednesday. (Emphasis mine)

"Fraudulent or illicitly acquired travel documents, such as passports and visas, compromise the security of U.S. borders by providing means to gain unlawful entry into the country. Fraudulently issued or altered passports can be used by criminals, including terrorists, to adopt false identities, impersonate other citizens or conceal suspicious travel."

The Feb. 3 incident, the FBI said, also included the theft of 5,000 blank French driver's licenses, 10,000 blank car ownership certificates, 25 titres de voyages (Geneva Convention travel documents) and 1,000 international driver's licenses without any identification numbers.


Just bleepin' wonderful! And why exactly is this "Visa Waiver" program still in effect?

Discussion is locked

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Re:Better beef up the Vermont, Maine & NY Border crossings(nt)
Apr 18, 2004 10:42AM PDT

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Re: Will we now have to screen French citizens entering the U.S.?
Apr 18, 2004 1:35PM PDT

Hi, Paul.

My understanding is that ALL foreign visitors, with or without visas, will soon have to be fingerprinted and photographed (exceptions for Mexicans and Canadians, ONLY). As for why the waiver? Economics -- a visa requirement adds weeks (typically 2-3) of waiting and a couple of hundred dollars to the cost of each visit, and would also inevitably impose the same requirement on americans visiting there. All this would be very bad for business travel, which is often last-minute, as well as tourism both directions. And with the now-cheap dollar, there are more European tourism dollars coming this way than American tourists' dollars being spent over there. And we'd also have to greatly increase our consulate staffs abroad to handle the visa demand.

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