Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Airlines would collect fingerprints for US-VISIT

Homeland Security Department officials plan to require commercial airlines and cruise ship lines to collect biometric information from non-immigrant foreign travelers when they leave the United States by the beginning of next year.For years, DHS has been collecting biometric data from such travelers when they arrive in the United States as part of the department's U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program. However, DHS has had a hard time creating an exit system with similar capabilities because of logistical, technological and commercial problems. The exit program is a requirement of a major national security law Congress passed in 2007. After conducting a pilot program, DHS today announced the government’s plan to meet that obligation.
(Federal Computer Week story; Government Executive story)

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