All non-American citizens to be photographed when entering and exiting the U.S., new regulations state

The U.S. will soon require all non-citizens entering and leaving the country to be to be photographed as part of new Department of Homeland Security regulations.

The security initiative is intended to build a comprehensive biometric data collection aimed at improving identity verification, combatting visa overstays and reducing passport fraud. It will involve the use of facial recognition technology matching live images of travellers with government records at all entry and exit points, including airports, seaports, and land borders.

The new regulations state that “the best tool to combat passport fraud is to utilize the digital photos contained in e-passports to biometrically verify that a person who presents a travel document is the true bearer of that document.”

And, further, that U.S. Customs and Border Protection biometric tests using facial comparison technology “support this conclusion.”

The DHS has been mandated by various federal statutes, notes the new regulations, “to create an integrated, automated biometric entry and exit system that records the arrival and departure of aliens, compares the biometric data of aliens to verify their identity, and authenticates travel documents.”

A reference to 9/11 and the continued threat of global terrorism is cited in the regulations, as well as “a United Nations Security Council resolution adopted in 2017, calling on member nations to increase aviation security and implement systems to collect biometric data to identify terrorists.

Biometric data collection can involve use of an advance passenger information system (APIS), common to airline security, for example. The CBP intends on building galleries of an individual’s photographs using such systems. But for crossings on foot or in privately owned vehicles that may not be possible, so it may build galleries using photographs of non-citizens who “frequently cross” a specific entry point, taken there to “become part of a localized photographic gallery.”

Biometric data collected at land borders will be retained for future verifications.

Under the regulation, set to take effect on Dec. 26, U.S. authorities could also require the submission of other biometrics, such as fingerprints or DNA.

The new regulations will apply to all non-citizens, including minors under 14 and seniors over 79, who were previously exempt from some biometric requirements.

The CBP has been collecting biometric data from certain non-citizens upon arrival in the U.S. since 2004, says Bloomberg , but the new rule marks a significant expansion of that data collection. New advances in facial comparison technology allow the agency to roll out broader inspections for entry and departure, the CBP told Bloomberg.

The new regulation will eventually apply to Canadian travellers entering and exiting the U.S., including at vehicle border crossings. However, DHS is still working out the technical challenges involved in doing so, as noted in the regulations . “CBP has not analyzed the costs and benefits for implementing a facial comparison-based biometric entry-exit program for vehicles at land ports and private aircraft, or for exit at sea ports and pedestrians at land ports because CBP is still in the process of determining the best way to implement biometric entry-exit within each of these unique environments.”

Canadians staying in the U.S. for over 30 days, including snowbirds, must already comply with fingerprinting and registration requirements.

Most public comments submitted in response to the 2021 proposed regulations opposed them, with many people citing privacy concerns. However, the final rule released today by DHS doesn’t make substantive changes to that proposal.

DHS will open a new public comment period for 30 days after the regulation is published in the U.S. Federal Register on Oct. 27.

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