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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 13, 2004

SCHUMER REVEALS: US PUTS NEW IMMIGRATION FINGERPRINT ID SYSTEM AT 14 SEAPORTS NATIONWIDE – BUT NOT NEW YORK

Visitors who come to NYC on cruise ships do not go through "US-VISIT" scanners that check visitors' fingerprints and pictures against terror databases

Nearly 1 million passengers pass through NY Terminal each year and with yesterday's launch of the new Queen Mary 2, more visitors than ever will cruise to New York

Standing at the New York City Passenger Ship Terminal on the West Side of Manhattan, US Senator Charles E. Schumer revealed today that the Department of Homeland Security has not installed any of their highly-touted new "fingerscanners" there to check foreign visitors against terrorist watch lists. The New York Terminal is the second-largest passenger ship terminal in the United States and is located only blocks away from Times Square. Schumer today asked the Homeland Security Department to install their "US-VISIT" system at the Terminal by the time the largest ship in the world, the brand-new Queen Mary 2 – docks in New York in April.

"If there's one thing we've learned since 9/11, it's that the terrorists look for the places we aren't vigilant and try to exploit them," Schumer said. "It's great that foreign visitors get checked at JFK and Newark, but if terrorists know they can walk down the gangplank directly into Manhattan without getting a security scan, we've left a gaping hole here on the Hudson."

On January 5, the US Department of Homeland Security launched the new United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) which records the fingerprints and facial images of most foreign visitors with non-immigrant visas who come to the United States. The US-VISIT system requires that most foreign visitors traveling to the United States on visas have their two index fingers scanned and a digital photograph taken at the port of entry. This information is checked against criminal databases and terrorist watch lists and is checked against information that was recorded by State Department officials when the traveler's visa was first issued. Cameras and fingerprint scanners have been installed at 14 seaports and 115 airports – including John. F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport – but not at the New York City Passenger Ship Terminal.

The New York City Passenger Ship Terminal is the largest US passenger port outside of Florida and can accommodate up to five full-size cruise ships at a time. The Terminal handled approximately 900,000 passengers in 2003. Approximately 1 out of every 10 cruise ship passengers in the world will travel through the New York City Passenger Ship Terminal this year, according to data from the Cruise Line International Association.

Just yesterday, the largest passenger ship ever built – the brand-new Queen Mary 2 – set sail for the first time on a trip from England to Florida. The Queen Mary is scheduled to start regular New York City service in April and, with a passenger capacity of 2,620 and a crew of 1,253, promises to bring hundreds of foreign nationals to New York every week.

Schumer today wrote to Asa Hutchinson, the Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security at the US Department of Homeland Security, and asked him to ensure that US-VISIT is fully implemented at the New York City Passenger Ship Terminal – including the cameras and fingerprint scanners – before the Queen Mary begins service to New York in April.

"The Queen Mary is as tall as a 21-story building and longer than a battleship. We wouldn't let a battleship dock alongside Manhattan without trying to figure out who is inside, and we should do no less with a cruise ship of that size. I appreciate the enormous complexity of getting US-VISIT up and running in so many places at once, but until we fully protect all routes into New York – roads, rails, air and water – New Yorkers are not going to feel truly safe," Schumer wrote to Hutchinson.

In November, Schumer revealed that there were credible, unanswered questions about whether enough is being done to ensure the security of the passengers and crew members who pass through the New York City Passenger Ship Terminal. Schumer and a whistle-blower reported that despite some moves to increase passenger security at the Terminal, serious security gaps remain. In response to Schumer's inquiry, the Commandant of the Coast Guard – the highest ranking Coast Guard Officer in the United States – launched an investigation of security at the Terminal in December.

For a copy of Schumer's letter to Asa Hutchinson, the Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security at the US Department of Homeland Security, click here.

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