Spokane, Wash., Airport to Get New System to Track Foreign Visitors
December 12, 2003 7:24pm
Knight-Ridder / Tribune Business News
Dec. 12--Spokane International is one of 114 U.S. airports that will be getting U.S. VISIT, a new system to track foreign travelers.
U.S. VISIT stands for "visitor and immigrant status indicator technology." It is an effort by the Department of Homeland Security to better track travelers arriving and leaving the country from airports and seaports.
Spokane's airport will have two of the new biometric identification systems installed in the B Concourse by Jan. 5.
The only time Spokane's customs staff will use U.S. VISIT is for private aircraft arrivals, or for the rare charter flight from Canada.
Seattle's airport will have a dozen or more of the devices.
The new system requires anyone flying into the country from overseas -- or heading the other way -- to submit to a digital photo and fingerprint scan.
U.S. citizens are exempt, at least for the time being, according to federal guidelines.
Eventually, Spokane will also have those fingerprint scanners at Felts and Geiger fields, said Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Cherise Miles.
A number of aviation industry groups, such as Airports Council International-North America, have issued concerned statements, saying the system creates the potential for much longer waits at security checkpoints.
The system's technology will allow for a large travel database to track comings and goings of travelers from overseas, said Bill Strassberger, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, which is responsible for implementing U.S. VISIT.
Each incoming or outgoing foreign traveler will be asked to put their left and right index fingers on the biometric scanners. Then customs staff will snap a digital photo to complete processing at the airport.
The whole point, said Strassberger, is to compile an up-to-date directory of people traveling into the country.
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