The Department of Homeland Security has already started the system at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is under attack for being unable to curb an increasing number foreigners who tend to overstay. According to reports, more than 700,000 people — including visitors, students, workers and other foreigners who entered the country by sea or air ports — did not leave the country last year, even though their visa requirements needed them to.
The department is now working closely with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to have better data and monitoring control over foreigners who ditch their exit dates. A more thorough biometric system is being put to use to compare the facial, fingerprint or iris scans of travelers, the Nextgov reported.
The system has already been put in place at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The Customs and Border Protection has partnered with an airline to gauge the effectiveness of the new system wherein they could confirm the identities of the travelers who are exiting the country.
President Trump has signed an executive order to bring in a sophisticated biometric exit system, the report added. The DHS is reportedly struggling with technological challenges that has made it difficult for the department to maintain proper database, and identification system.
Earlier this month, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) said that the country has at least 1.2 million foreigners who have overstayed. Another flaw in the current system is that the concerned departments have to check several different databases from different agencies to get information on visitors. This takes a lot of time to collect data and identify people who overstay. Under the new biometric system, the DHS expects to reduce the investigation time, and improve on building and maintaining the database.
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