The Senate Judiciary Committee approved an amendment that calls for establishing a biometric-based exit system at the nation’s airports with the highest volume of international air travel.
The amendment, introduced by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and approved 13-5, would apply the biometric exit criteria to all foreign nationals departing the country from these airports. The actual creation of a biometric air exit system would likely be overseen by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and deployment at airports would be certified by the Transportation Department.
The biometric exit system would first be applied to 10 airports with the highest volume of international air travel within two year’s of enactment of a comprehensive immigration reform bill currently being marked up by the Judiciary Committee. Within six years of the bill’s enactment, the biometric air system would be deployed at the 30 core international airports in the United States.
Currently, CBP relies on biographic data to verify that foreign nationals have departed the country but the agency has no way to ensure that these people are who they say they are other than through a photo ID check. Inclusion of a biometric is expected to strengthen the link between a person and the passport document they present to CBP officials at the exit point to help prevent fraud.
There are estimates that as many as 40 percent of the millions of illegal aliens in the United States entered the country legally but overstayed their visas.
The Hatch amendment calls for the Government Accountability Office to conduct a report three years after the first 10 airports implement the biometric data system to report on its effectiveness.
The amendment also calls for the Transportation Department to provide Congress with a plan within six years of the immigration bill’s enactment for expanding the biometric exit system to major sea and land ports of entry within the United States.
The immigration reform bill (S. 744) calls for a biographic-based exit system at airports and seaports of departure that is interoperable with databases maintained by various components of the Department of Homeland Security as well as the Departments of State and Justice. The legislation also mentions the use of biometric departure information but supporters of deploying a biometric-based exit system believe the bill provides enough flexibility to not move forward with the biometric component.
The Hatch amendment strengthens the likelihood that a biometric air exit system may be deployed at some U.S. airports if the immigration bill becomes law. A House panel approved a border security bill that requires DHS to develop a plan for a biometric air exit system within six months of the bill’s enactment.
DHS has studied and pilot tested the use of fingerprints to verify the departure of foreign nationals from some airports and said such a system is feasible but has been reluctant to push ahead with such a system.