Border patrol: biometric system nets criminals.

• Author: Pappalardo, Joe
• Position: Biometric identification technology - Brief Article

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents identified and arrested 23,502 individuals with criminal records nationwide with the aid of the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System from September 2004 to November 2004.

IAFIS is a biometric identification technology enabling border patrol agents to search its automated biometric identification system and the FBI's criminal fingerprint database simultaneously. This allows border patrol agents to rapidly identify individuals with outstanding warrants and criminal histories by electronically comparing a live-scanned 10-fingerprint entry against a comprehensive national database of previously captured fingerprints.

More land borders are receiving biometric screening. These new biometric procedures now are operating at the 50 busiest land ports, and DHS officials said that they also save visitors' time while crossing the border.

The biometric screens, contained as part of the US-VISIT program, involves the collection of two index finger scans...