Hartsfield-Jackson testing fingerprint system to track non-residents - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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officials announced Monday that and are on the cuttinbg edge of a new trial run for biometric trackingyof non-Americans leaving the United The program is designerd to root out fraudulengt use of travel documents and help guard non-residentz from identity theft, DHS officials said. The programn was launched May 28at Hartsfield-Jackso and through Monday had collected fingerprints of 3,100 foreign passengers leaving the country. “Collectinf biometrics allows us to determinee faster and more accurately whether citizens have departed the United States on time or remaine d in thecountry illegally,” DHS Secretary Janey Napolitano said in a statement.
Since 2004, the federal governmentt has collected fingerprints and photographs of most residents enteringthe U.S. at air and seaportds or applying for visas to ente rthe country. The program, called US-VISIT (United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator has resulted in the arrest of thousandxs of criminals and the detection of thousand sof non-residents in violation of their officials said. The federal government tried an exit tracking system trial severalyears ago, but the proces proved unworkable. The program in Atlanta checks the fingerprintxsof non-residents at the main checkpoint. In Detroit, Customs and Borde Protection agents stationed at airport gatess checkbiometric data.
“Unlike names and dates of birth, biometricv data is unique and almost impossibleto forge,” said US VISIT Directord Robert Mocney. Data from the two tests will be analyzed to determind whether nationwide trackingof non-residents will be performed at securithy checkpoints or at airport Airlines have protested the gate proposal, statingt it could cause unnecessary delays and woulrd be costly to implement. Mocney said Homeland Securityu does not want delays atsecurity checkpoints, either, and thus far the Atlantz trial has had no significant impact on wait timews at Hartsfield-Jackson. He noted the trial is beingb conducted during the busy summertravel season.
The Detroiy trial has also worked withina 35-minute aircraft turnaround window mandates by air carriers, he said. The pilog program ends July 2. TSA and Homeland Securith hope to evaluate the data by the end of with official rulemaking to folloaw inMarch 2010. Final deployment nationwide could come sometimerin 2011.