The U.S. government is expanding a “biometrics-at-sea” program which matches fingerprints and photographs of illegal immigrants intercepted at sea with information listed in a federal database:

The program allows Coast Guard personnel, using a handheld device, to take digital fingerprints and photographs at sea of migrants and smugglers they intercept. The data is e-mailed via satellite link to a Homeland Security Department database near Washington, D.C., and results are back to the vessel within 3 to 5 minutes, officials said.

It’s getting all Minority Report up in this mother!

The database of some 3.2 million names is maintained under Homeland Security’s US-VISIT program, which stands for Visitor and Immigration Status Indicator Technology. Its director, Robert Mocny, said the database allows the Coast Guard to quickly check migrants for such things as previous deportation orders or criminal warrants.

Those who don’t match any names become enrolled in the database, Mocny said.

So, really, “VISIT” means “Very Insistent that you Stop IllegallyImmigrating, Turdwad.”

Feds to Check More Migrant IDs at Sea [LA Times]