Department of Homeland Security

The fake October news conference held by the Federal Emergency Management Agency was not the first time a Homeland Security public affairs official has acted like a reporter by asking questions during a briefing.

The Homeland Security Department intends to begin scanning all 10 fingerprints for foreign visitors starting Nov. 29 at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, department officials said Tuesday. Foreigners visiting the United States on visas must have a digital photograph taken and a scan of their two index fingers under the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program. DHS has built a database of 90 million fingerprints in the four years the program has been in operation.

Vanessa Alarcon saw them while working at an anti-war rally in Lafayette Square last month. "I heard someone say, 'Oh my god, look at those,' " the college senior from New York recalled. "I look up and I'm like, 'What the hell is that?' They looked kind of like dragonflies or little helicopters. But I mean, those are NOT insects."