Immigration: All H1B Visa Holder and Foreign Nationals in the US have to Provide Biometric Regularly
New Delhi: In amendment of immigration policy, America’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that all H1B Visa Holder and foreign nationals in the USA have to provide Biometric data regularly. This decision will expand America’s biometric data collection including iris images, palm prints and voice recognition.
The US government decides to collect the data of every H1B visa holder and foreign Nationals. There will be no age restrictions.
According to the new order from DHS, All foreign nationals and H1B visa holders including dependents have to submit their biometric until they become the citizen of the United States of America.
In a media brief, The DHS said “The proposed rule would authorize biometrics collection for identity verification in addition to new techniques. Voice, iris and facial recognition technologies are fast, accurate ways to confirm the identity of an applicant that don’t require physical contact,”
Furthermore DHS said that they expect the new rule would improve the screening and vetting process and reduce dependence on paper documents and biographic information to prove identity and familial relationships.
As per the Media report, the Department of Homeland Security has the permission to collect the DNA so at the needy time applicants may face no trouble.
A senior official at DHS, Ken Cuccinelli said “This proposed rule eliminates any ambiguity surrounding the Department’s use of biometrics, setting clear standards for how and why we collect and use this information,”
“Leveraging readily available technology to verify the identity of an individual we are screening is responsible governing. The collection of biometric information also guards against identity theft and thwarts fraudsters who are not who they claim to be,” Ken Cuccinelli added.
As per the DHS announcement, the new regulation will be formally proposed on September 11.
Deputy Director at Immigration Policy at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Andrea Flores said that “The Trump administration is, once again, trying to radically change America’s immigration system. This time, they’re contemplating a new requirement to collect unprecedented personal information from immigrants and the US citizens who sponsor them throughout the immigration process and to potentially store that information even after the immigrants become citizens. Collecting a massive database of genetic blueprints won’t make us safer — it will simply make it easier for the government to surveil and target our communities and to bring us closer to a dystopian nightmare.”
Further she added that “Trump’s goal is clear: to shut down the legal immigration system and make immigration as difficult as possible. Will Congress let him?”
_Vinayak
