An advisory panel charged by the Departments of Homeland Security and State to suggest ways to balance the nation’s security while maintaining a welcome mat in the United States for foreign visitors includes among its recommendations that the U.S. test an international trusted traveler program that could quickly be expanded to the top 20 international airports in the country.
“International Registered Traveler (IRT) programs have the potential to enhance security and facilitation by expediting the clearance of low-risk, pre-screened passengers by freeing CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) officers to focus on passengers who have not been vetted,” the Secure Borders and Open Doors Advisory Committee says in its report, Secure Borders and Open Doors: Preserving Our Welcome to the World in an Age of Terrorism. The report points to various IRT programs currently in place, including programs in Germany, Netherlands and Britain, as well as U.S. border crossing programs such as NEXUS, which is for travel between the U.S. and Canada.
The report says the pilot program could begin at two airports, George Bush International in Houston and Dulles International near Washington, D.C., and possibly JFK International in New York.
“DHS should also negotiate reciprocity with foreign nations with which the U.S. has aviation agreements, particularly those that already have IRT programs,” says the report. Pointing to the biometric-enabled trusted traveler trial done in late 2006 and early 2007 called miSense, the advisory panel notes that, “The governments of Dubai, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom recently demonstrated the viability of an international approach to IRT.”
The advisory panel was appointed by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Secretary of State Condoleezaa Rice in late 2006. The panel points to a long decline in overseas travel to the United States between 2000 and 2006 stemming from policies established to make U.S. borders more secure. The report notes that more recently, though, travel from Western Europe has begun to recover and that more visas are being issued in growth countries such as Brazil, China and India.
The advisory panel makes 12 comprehensive priority recommendations, which include a list of 44 policy recommendations. Among the other recommendations are doing away with some of the paper records used by Customs officials for arriving international passengers since the information is already being collected electronically. It also calls for pre-defined service expectations at airports for arrivals, such as wait times below 30 minutes, which would mean increases in CBP staff assigned to handle passenger flow.