WASHINGTON,
Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) announced today that it has begun collecting additional
fingerprints from international visitors arriving at Hartsfield-Jackson
Atlanta International Airport (Hartsfield). The change is part of the
department's upgrade from two- to 10-fingerprint collection to enhance
security and facilitate legitimate travel by more accurately and efficiently
establishing and verifying visitors' identities.
"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.
For more than four years, U.S. Department of State (DOS) consular officers
and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers have been collecting
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.
"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.
The department's US-VISIT program currently checks a visitor's
fingerprints against DHS records of immigration violators and Federal Bureau
of Investigations (FBI) records of criminals and known or suspected
terrorists. Checking biometrics against the watch list helps officers make
visa determinations and admissibility decisions. Collecting 10 fingerprints
also improves fingerprint matching accuracy and the department's ability to
compare a visitor's fingerprints against latent fingerprints collected by
Department of Defense (DOD) and the FBI from known and unknown terrorists all
over the world. Additionally, visitors' fingerprints are checked against the
FBI's Criminal Master File.
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
Hartsfield.
Hartsfield is the second port of entry to begin the collection of 10
fingerprints from international visitors. Washington Dulles International
Airport began 10-fingerprint collection on November 29, 2007, and eight other
ports of entry will begin collecting additional fingerprints during the next
few months. The next ports scheduled are: Boston Logan International Airport;
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. The remaining air, sea and
land ports will transition to collecting 10 fingerprints by the end of 2008.
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. US-VISIT, in cooperation with CBP, is leading the transition to a
10-fingerprint collection standard. This upgrade is the result of an
interagency partnership among DHS, FBI, DOD and DOS.
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