U.S. Ends Foreigner Registration Program

Monday, December 1, 2003
(7:45 PM ET)
By Suzanne Gamboa

Associated Press Writer

"The Department of Homeland Security will utilize a more tailored system that is individual-specific rather than the broad categories by geography."

-- Asa Hutchinson, Undersecretary for Border and Transportation Security

Undersecretary for Border and Transportation Security Asa Hutchinson speaks on Oct. 28 in Washington about the steps the Department of Homeland Security has taken to verify the identity of foreign visitors.

Image Credit: Stephen J. Boitano -- AP Files

WASHINGTON -- AP
The government is scrapping a rule imposed after the Sept. 11 attacks that required men and boys from countries with suspected links to terrorism to register multiple times with U.S. officials.

The rule forced tens of thousands of Middle Easterners and others visiting America to provide personal information to government officials.

Asa Hutchinson, the Homeland Security Department's undersecretary for border and transportation security, said a new registration system that will apply to more foreigners will be in place next month, making the current program unnecessary.

The program will end Tuesday when a notice is published in the Federal Register. Hutchinson said it could be used again if there is another terrorist attack linked to a foreign country.

Critics who contend the rule infringed on the rights of law-abiding citizens welcomed its end. But they tempered their response with warnings that the requirement already had caused damage in Arab and Muslim communities and that the government still has rules in place that discriminate against those groups.
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2003 © The Associated Press.

Dan