2/18/2009 Since becoming operational in 2004, more than 130 million people have been screened biometrically upon entering the United States, netting the capture of thousands of criminals and the elimination of scores of fraudulent travel documents, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
“When US-VISIT was created, our primary emphasis was to roll out biometric technology to the air, land and sea ports of entry, all across the United States and consular offices abroad,” said Steve Yonkers, deputy assistant director, Business Policy and Planning, DHS. “Our challenge was to get information into the hands of decision-makers immediately … to verify who [the visa applicant] is, are they wanted for something, is there some reason this person should not receive a visa, and not become admissible to the U.S.,” he said.
The DHS’ US-VISIT (U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology) program is an immigration and identity management system used at visa-issuing posts and ports of entry to verify entrants’ identities when visiting the United States. The system involves collecting and analyzing travelers’ biometric data—digital fingerprints and photograph—usually at an overseas visa-issuing post, and checking the data against a watch list of wanted criminals and suspected terrorists. Upon arrival in the United States, the traveler’s biometric data is collected again, to ensure that the entrant is the same individual that received the visa.
Since Jan. 18, 2009, virtually all non-U.S. citizens are required to provide biometric data through US-VISIT, including lawful permanent residents of the United States, refugees and asylees seeking admission, persons paroled into the United States, persons applying for admission under the Guam Visa Waiver Program, and Canadian citizens currently required to obtain a Form I-94.
“US-VISIT has been a success,” Yonkers told those in attendance at the 2nd Annual Biometrics for National Security and Defense conference sponsored by the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement in suburban Washington, D.C., Feb. 11, 2009. “It has enabled us to more or less eliminate the fraudulent use of travel documents and literally catch thousands of criminals seeking to enter the United States, while facilitating travel and trade, [protecting] privacy, and [making] sure information is properly used and safeguarded,” he said.
Criticisms of the program include its cost, effectiveness and the potential for invasion of privacy.
‘Two-to-10’
“Going from ‘two-to-10’ [the fingerprinting of only the index fingers to fingerprinting all 10 digits] has been a major upgrade to the system,” Yonkers said. The upgrade has increased efficiency-of-use of the massive 100 million fingerprint database and increased interoperability with the FBI and other security agencies, by being able to identify latent prints from crime scenes and battle sites better. The two-to-10 upgrade has been implemented at all major U.S. ports of entry.
Exit Collection
US-VISIT is not just about entering the United States. Exit data collection and the ability to identify persons overstaying their visas have always been a part of its aim. An exit data collection system is currently being devised, with information being gathered from pilot programs and with the assistance of the airline industry and the Department of Commerce in order to embed exit collection as naturally as possible into routine exit procedures.
“We’re also looking beyond air and sea, to land exits,” said Yonkers. This presents special difficulties as most people exiting by land travel “at-speed,”—not stopping as they leave—and “we don’t want to disrupt travel and trade,” he said.
Future Tech
The future of biometric identification is mobile and multimodal.
“Obviously fingerprints are the cornerstone of our program, but we realize that in terms of moving forward, we have to become multimodal—that means iris and facial,” Yonkers said. The obstacles to this upgrade are technological and practical in nature, with database storage, system speed and operability, and agency necessity among issues to be worked out.
Yonkers cited the U.S. Coast Guard’s use of mobile biometric readers patched in to the DHS database when confronting people from the Dominican Republic attempting to reach Puerto Rico by ship illegally as an upgrade that has “resulted in a dramatic uptick in prosecutions and served as a real deterrent to an illegal and dangerous action.” DHS will continue to use mobile biometric technology to “bring the tech to where the mission is being done.”
Challenges
Challenges to the continued operation of US-VISIT include concerns over data privacy protection, enhanced interoperability with other agencies, the development of common standards, cracking down on the “spoofing of the system,” and the need to complete the exit collection function. A major future initiative of the program is to be the biometrics identification service provider for all DHS agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Secret Service, Yonkers said.
-J|S
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