The new system which is in its initial stages is aimed at enhancing the security and efficiency in verifying the identities of the visitors’ arriving at the airport, said US Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The final evaluation of the new system would be made in December. If the new system passes the muster, all the major airports in US will implement the ten fingerprint system for non-US citizens.
The visitors’ fingerprints are checked against the DHS records of immigration violators and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) records of wanted persons and known or suspected terrorists. Only few categories, including diplomats and American citizens, are exempt from this process.
The new scrutiny system is expected to clear the holdups of the passengers more efficiently by clearing the security checks within sixty to ninety seconds. Homeland Security Officials said though the old system of two fingers detected more than 2,000 violators of immigration laws capturing some 90 million fingerprints but it also yielded some false matches.
In the new system, each image-capture unit will cost around $3,000.