U.S. border guards at busy northern crossings will start fingerprinting foreign visitors entering from Canada by the end of the year, a top official in the Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday. Technology including motion-detecting sensors and land- and air-based surveillance of deserted stretches will also improve security, said Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for border and transportation security. He spoke at a conference in Minneapolis of law enforcement officials from Canada and eight states. Homeland Security is in the process of expanding the collection of fingerprints and other digital data to the nation's 50 busiest land crossings. Fingerprinting has already started at Mexican border crossings in Arizona, Texas and California. "The fact still is that a terrorist, and the terrorists of 9/11, came in not sneaking across a land border but with documentation at a port of entry," Hutchinson said. "That is obviously their preference. We have to continue to work on our ports of entry." The fingerprinting technology, used already at airports and seaports, is to be extended to all land border crossings by the end of 2005. Most Canadians will not be subjected to the scans because they do not need a visa to enter the United States. The conference, which included representatives of tribal governments and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, was closed to media except for Hutchinson's speech and a brief question-and-answer with reporters. The Canadian border has one U.S. border guard for every 10 watching the Mexican border, Hutchinson said. He said his department has given grants to pay border guards overtime to increase patrols, resulting in a "historic level of security for the northern border." Unmanned aerial vehicles — now being used to patrol the Mexican border — may be added on the Canadian border, he said. Attending the conference were officials from Alaska, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin. Reprinted from Yahoo.com