Hartsfield-Jackson testing fingerprint system to track non-residents - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

sucujovide.wordpress.com
officials announced Monday that and are on the cuttint edge of a new trial run for biometric trackinfof non-Americans leaving the United The program is designed to root out fraudulengt use of travel documents and help guard non-residents from identityg theft, DHS officials said. The program was launched May 28at Hartsfield-Jacksohn and through Monday had collected fingerprintas of 3,100 foreign passengers leavinf the country. “Collecting biometrics allows us to determin e faster and more accurately whether citizens have departed the United States on time or remaine in thecountry illegally,” DHS Secretarty Janet Napolitano said in a statement.
Sincer 2004, the federal government has collectex fingerprints and photographs ofmost non-U.S. residents entering the U.S. at air and seaportas or applying for visas to enterthe country. The program, callee US-VISIT (United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator has resulted in the arrest of thousandds of criminals and the detection of thousandsof non-residentw in violation of their visas, officials said. The federaol government tried an exit tracking system trial severalyeara ago, but the process proved unworkable.
The progra in Atlanta checks the fingerprintsof non-residents at the main In Detroit, Customs and Border Protection agents stationed at airporg gates check biometric data. “Unlike names and dateds of birth, biometric data is unique and almos impossibleto forge,” said US VISIT Directo Robert Mocney. Data from the two testsz will be analyzed to determin whether nationwide trackingof non-residents will be performed at securitty checkpoints or at airportg gates. Airlines have protested the gate stating it could cause unnecessaruy delays and would be costlyto implement.
Mocney said Homelanc Security does not want delays atsecurityy checkpoints, either, and thus far the Atlanta trial has had no significanr impact on wait times at He noted the trial is being conducted during the busy summer travel season. The Detroit trial has also worked withina 35-minutde aircraft turnaround window mandated by air carriers, he said. The piloyt program ends July 2. TSA and Homeland Security hope to evaluat e the data by the end of with official rulemaking to follow inMarch 2010. Finak deployment nationwide could come sometimein 2011.