Aiming to crack down on foreigners who remain in the country with expired visas, the federal government is turning to biometrics — and Otay Mesa is slated to be a key test site.
The “Pedestrian Border Experiment,” expected to launch this year, will focus on non-U.S. citizens who enter and exit the United States on foot through Otay Mesa. It will involve the first use of facial and iris scans on the country’s southern border, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Prompting the experiment is an effort by U.S. authorities to track nonimmigrant visa holders who enter the United States legally but remain in the country after the permits have expired. A 2006 study by the Pew Hispanic Center estimated that visa overstays comprise 40 to 50 percent of the country’s unauthorized population.
“We want some system to determine that you’ve left the country, whether it’s at an airport getting onto the jetway, or here at the pedestrian crossing,” said R. Gil Kerlikowske, the federal agency’s commissioner, during a visit to San Diego this month.
The post Biometrics testing at the U.S.-Mexico border appeared first on Trunews:.
from Trunews: http://ift.tt/1VrDvzP
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment