A MATTER OF SECURITY

Philadelphia Inquirer: There is constant tension between the concepts of America, land of the free, and America, the place that welcomes you if you play by its rules.
Before Sept. 11, the rules were mostly geared toward economic concerns: We didn't want you visiting here if there was a good chance your intent was to overstay your visa and work illegally, or find your way onto America's welfare rolls.
The economic mindset, unfortunately, was tailor-made for the 19 Sept. 11 terrorists, who all entered the United States with a stamp of approval from Uncle Sam.
Now there is a new, terrorist-prevention mindset driving America's visa policies. The latest plan comes from U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who announced last week that selected visitors to the country will be both photographed and fingerprinted as they arrive.
The fingerprints will, in some sophisticated manner yet to be explained, be compared to those of suspected terrorists and international criminals. They'll also be used to track those who overstay their visas.
In Ashcroft's words: "Fingerprints don't lie."
Americans might be more reassured if the plan were introduced by someone other than an attorney general who seems determined to toss out time-honored American civil liberties using antiterrorism as the excuse.
'Dirty bomb' plot
Still, in view of America's continued risk from those who journey here on deadly missions (Monday's news of a plot to build and detonate a "dirty bomb" only adds to the worries), such a policy is an acceptable way to focus screening in a State Department/Immigration and Naturalization Service system that has utterly failed in the past to bar the bad guys.
Another concern: Criteria for screening remain secret, though residents of nations that sponsor terrorism will be targeted.
Racial and ethnic profiling is anathema to the American way of life. Some Muslim and Middle Eastern citizens of the United States have been subjected to unfair scrutiny since 9/11.
But there is an important distinction. American citizens share the same protections under U.S. law, including the right to equal treatment. Those rights do not extend to foreign visitors. They can be refused entry for virtually any reason (just as Americans can be stopped at another country's borders).
In light of 9/11, fingerprinting seems a small demand of a foreign visitor who wishes to visit a country that now understandably has reason to be suspicious of many of its visitors.