ABSTRACT
The crusade towards biometric border controls throughout the EU is only likely to intensify the desperate situation these people face. Biometric security is both marking and (dis)enabling traditional relationships in favour of the kinds of graduated access to spaces and privileges afforded by the securitization of identity. There has been a recent tendency to rely on biometrics as an absolute or indisputable human measurement. Biometric technology installed at national border points is a key component in regulating the transnational flow of bodies in a global economy. Biometric technologies are thus deeply rooted within new modalities of power and control. In the United States, OBIM is the leading entity within the Department of Homeland Security responsible for biometric identity management services. In view of migratory pressures and terrorist attacks suffered by Europe over the last few years, border management has also become a priority for the European Commission.
