Photo scan of visitors to US

FOREIGNERS entering US airports and seaports from all but 28 nations began being fingerprinted and photographed yesterday.

The move was part of a new programme Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said will ensure that borders are secure in an era of terrorist threat. Mr Ridge was at Atlanta International Airport in Georgia to meet with some of the first foreign passengers from Brazil and Chile to go through the new system.

Other top federal officials also planned to be at airports across the US to help draw attention to the new policy.