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Journalism of Courage
Brazil on Thursday began fingerprinting and photographing US visitors on the orders of a judge.
Federal Judge Julier Sebastiao da Silva, furious at US plans to fingerprint and photograph visitors on entering the US, ordered Brazil’s authorities do the same to US citizens, starting Thursday. ‘‘We’ve begun doing this,’’ said a federal police spokeswoman at Brazil’s Guarulhos International Airport in Sao Paulo.
The order came after a Brazilian citizen rights agency filed a complaint in federal court over the US measure.
‘‘I consider the act absolutely brutal, threatening human rights, violating human dignity, xenophobic and worthy of the worst horrors committed by the Nazis,’’ said Sebastiao da Silva in the court order released on Tuesday.
Officials at the US embassy in Brazil were not immediately available to comment on Brazil’s decision.
Brazil requires US citizens to have a visa when entering the country.
