Mobile biometric screening technology for seaports years away

A recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is still years away from implementing handheld biometric screening devices to electronically verify passengers entering the United States aboard ships.

Approximately five million people arrive in the United States by sea each year, with the majority arriving aboard passenger cruise vessels as opposed to cargo ships.

In a 2007 report, GAO warned that lax screening procedures of seafarers could allow terrorists and immigrants to illegally enter the United States aboard passenger ships. The report is careful to note that to date, no known terrorist has entered the United States via sea.

CBP agents currently conduct inspections aboard ships and lack access to databases to verify passports, travel documents, or passenger information and report their findings. This often leads to field officers incorrectly or irregularly entering data into ENFORCE, the centralized database used to track absconders and deserters.

As a result, “The Coast Guard reported 73 percent more absconders and almost double the deserters compared to CBP for fiscal years 2005 through 2009.”

To improve reporting and identification capabilities aboard ships, CBP has sought to employ mobile biometric screening devices or other tools that can electronically link up to national databases.

In 2009 procurement of these devices were dubbed a “high priority,” but the acquisition process has been plagued with technical difficulties. The primary challenge is remotely linking the mobile devices to databases in the maritime environment.

GAO found several field teams had experimented with mobile technology, but often encountered connectivity challenges. Two field teams attempted to use wireless laptops to connect to CBP databases as a verification tool, but efforts were discontinued because of poor connectivity.

Before entering the United States a sea-faring vessel is required to send the U.S. Coast Guard information on its passengers and crews. This information is first checked by Coast Guard and CBP agents to determine if further screening is needed based on several risk factors. If the vessel is determined to need additional screening, a field team led by CBP will board the vessel to inspect passengers and handle any problems.

Reasons for dispatching a CBP field team include errors in the crew or passenger lists, a history of a vessel allowing passengers to unlawfully enter the United States, and if the vessel is making its first trip to a U.S. seaport of the year.

Current laws do not require visitors to have a visa to make brief excursions to shore, but passengers must obtain a valid visa if they wish to stay in the United States for an extended period of time.

GAO interviews found that CBP field agents are eager to obtain these wireless screening devices and hope that the devices can connect to the US-VISIT database to identify passengers’ fingerprints in real time, run background checks, and validate visas and passports.

In 2009 DHS Science and Technology bureau distributed guidelines for the development of a hand-held screening device, but these guidelines did not address connectivity issues reported by CBP field agents.

These devices, with connectivity errors, are expected to take several years to develop before they can be implemented in the field.