This installation is a direct response to the draconian security measures that were put into effect after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, when U.S. customs began to fingerprint foreign visitors at its ports of entry.

The site at Union Square in downtown New York is especially important for this project because it is where native New Yorkers and foreign tourists alike held their all-night candle-lit vigils in the aftermath of the Twin Towers' collapse. It is also where many peace activists staged their protests against the current administration's aggressive new foreign policy, the so-called War on Terror.