It seems that most of the objections to the photo and fingerprint requirement are from posters from European countries. I think you have been on the wrong side of Alice’s’ looking glass for too long.
Most European countries are police states and require registration with the police when you move from one place to another. Maybe things have slacked off since the EU was formed but to my knowledge it is easier to move or travel to another country without passports and /or visas. But once in that new country you must register and make yourself known to the police.
You have been living under those conditions for so long that they are second nature. However to an American these conditions are totally alien. I lived in Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands and I worked for a Swiss based company. In each country I had to go through the police registration process in order to live in or work for the respective countries.
When you are issued a US passport you are told to never surrender the passport to anybody other than for entry into a country. In most European countries when you register in a hotel with a foreign passport you must surrender it to the desk clerk that in turn gives it to the police.
You get it back the next day but you wonder what was done to it overnight.
Prior to 911 if you entered into the United States all you had to do was fill out a card given to you by the airline. If you would be staying for any length of time you would fill out an alien registration card. And if staying on a work or study visa you would get the visa from the American embassy or consulate in your home country. The only thing that has changed to effect you directly is that you are photographed and your fingerprint (one finger) is taken by a scanner. The whole process takes less than a minute of your time. Once past that point you can travel to any of the fifty states without having to clear with the police or any other authority and you don’t in most cases have to show your passport. If you are driving in a rental car they will ask for your car license number and also they may ask for your drivers license. That’s it, nothing more. Just a fingerprint and a photo. Compare that to the police states in which you may live and then find fault with the American requirement.
