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Fingerprints Grabbed at U.S. International Airports

Air Safety Week, Jan 28, 2008

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is now collecting additional fingerprints from international visitors arriving at three major U.S. airports.

The change is part of the DHS's upgrade from two- to 10-fingerprint collection in order to enhance security and fingerprint matching accuracy.

"Anyone who's watched the news or seen crimes solved on television shows can appreciate the power of biometrics," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. "They help the legitimate traveler proceed more quickly while protecting their identity and enable our frontline personnel to focus even greater attention on potential security risks. Biometrics tell the story that the unknown terrorist tries to conceal, and it causes them to question whether they've ever left a print behind."

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Department of State (DOS) consular officers and DHS Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers collect biometrics--digital fingerprints and a photograph--from all non-U.S. citizens between the ages of 14 and 79, with some exceptions, when they apply for visas or arrive at U.S. ports of entry.

The DHS's US-VISIT program checks this data against a joint Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)-DHS watch list of criminals, immigration violators and known or suspected terrorists. Watch list data comes from several sources, including the Pentagon, FBI and other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

Checking biometrics against these databases helps officers make visa determinations and admissibility decisions. It also improves DHS's ability to compare a visitor's fingerprints against latent fingerprints collected from known and unknown terrorists all over the world.

In November 2007, Dulles International became the first port of entry to collect additional fingerprints from visitors. Dulles International has been joined by Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Boston Logan International Airport in taking full sets of fingerprints.

On an average day at Hartsfield, 4,000 international visitors complete US-VISIT biometric procedures. Visitors from the United Kingdom, Germany and Mexico comprise the largest numbers of international visitors arriving at the Georgia airport. Almost 2,000 foreigners undergo US-VISIT biometric checks each day at Logan.

Chicago O'Hare International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, George Bush Houston Intercontinental Airport, Miami International Airport; Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Orlando International Airport, and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport will begin 10- fingerprint collection during the next few months, and the 278 remaining ports will begin this process by the end of 2008.

"Biometrics have revolutionized our ability to prevent dangerous people from entering the United States since 2004. Our upgrade to 10-fingerprint collection builds on our success, enabling us to focus more attention on stopping potential security risks," US-VISIT Director Robert Mocny said.

"Quite simply, this change gives our officers a more accurate idea of who is in front of them. For legitimate visitors, the process becomes more efficient and their identities are better protected from theft. For those who may pose a risk, we will have greater insight into who they are," added Mr. Paul Morris, Executive Director of Admissibility Requirements and Migration Control, Office of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Since US-VISIT began in 2004, DHS has used biometric identifiers to prevent the use of fraudulent documents, protect visitors from identity theft, and stop thousands of criminals and immigration violators from entering the country.

Government Industry

Fingerprints Grabbed at U.S. International Airports

Air Safety Week, Jan 28, 2008

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