Biometrics: Unmasking Terrorists and Criminals

US-VISIT is a DHS program that collects fingerprints from visitors and biographical information in order to establish and verify identity, prevent fraud, and stop dangerous people from entering the United States. Collecting this information from international visitors is one of the best ways to maximize security while ensuring maximum privacy.

Since US-VISIT was added to the immigration inspection process in 2004, almost two thousand criminals and immigration violators have been prevented from entering this country. We’ve been successful because fingerprints are unique. Unlike names and dates of birth, they cannot be easily altered. Unlike documents, they cannot be forged. Digital fingerprints – also known as biometrics -- are revolutionizing our ability to keep legitimate travel moving while barring the entry of dangerous individuals.

We’re now improving this process by collecting all 10 fingerprints, instead of just two, from almost all non-U.S.-citizen visitors to our country. State Department consular officers already collect 10 fingerprints at almost all of its visa-issuing posts in order to make visa determinations before people can even travel to our shores. In November, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers began collecting 10 fingerprints from visitors at Washington Dulles International Airport. During the next year, this capability will expand to all air, sea and land ports of entry. CBP officers use this information to help them determine whether a visitor should be admitted to the United States.

The most visible benefit of transitioning from two- to 10-fingerprint collection is that we can actually improve the travel process by more accurately and efficiently identifying legitimate visitors. This means that we can focus our resources on those who pose the greatest risk.

But perhaps the most important and least obvious benefit is how this change helps us fight terrorists and criminals.

Terrorists thrive on their ability to move undetected around the world, but they do leave a trail of clues behind. For example, every day full or partial fingerprint images are left behind at crime scenes, terrorist safe houses, and even on bomb fragments or other battlefield debris. The defense and intelligence communities are collecting these latent fingerprints. US-VISIT adds these fingerprints to and checks them against our watch list of known or suspected terrorists, criminals and immigration violators and our database of immigration information.

Collecting a visitor’s full set of fingerprints instead of just two provides dual benefits: 1) Now, should we collect any part of a fingerprint at the scene of terrorist activity or any other crime and that same person applies for a visa or arrives at a U.S. port of entry, we could stop him or her; and 2) No matter what kind of fingerprint we find, we are more likely to identify the nameless suspect based on their U.S. immigration or criminal history.

This initiative was put to the test in 2005 when latent fingerprints lifted from the steering wheel of a suicide truck bomb detonated in Iraq were sent to US-VISIT for identification. US-VISIT identified the suicide bomber as someone who had once attempted—and been denied—entry to the United States. The suicide bomber was no longer anonymous. Removing this anonymity from terrorists helps us unravel their networks, disrupt their operations, and ultimately derail their plans to do us harm.

Robert Mocny
Director, US-VISIT Program