The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) introduced a new measure that allows it to photograph any non-US citizen entering or leaving the country for facial recognition purposes. According to a presentation Working with the government’s Federal Register, CBP and the Department of Homeland Security seek to crack down on threats of terrorism, fraudulent use of travel documents, and anyone overstaying their authorized stay.
The filing details that CBP “will implement an integrated, automated entry-exit data system to match records, including biographical and biometric data, of aliens entering and exiting the United States.” The government agency already has the ability to request photographs and fingerprints of anyone entering the country, but this new rule change would allow it to also require photographs of anyone leaving. These photographs would “create galleries of images associated with individuals, including photographs taken by border agents and of passports or other travel documents,” according to the document, adding that these galleries would be compared with live photographs at entry and exit points.
These new requirements are scheduled to go into effect on December 26, but CBP will need some time to implement a system to handle the additional demand. According to the document, the agency said that “a biometric entry and exit system can be fully implemented at all commercial airports and seaports for both entry and exit within the next three to five years.”
