ANZALDUAS, Texas — U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced today a facial comparison technical demonstration will begin tomorrow at the Anzalduas International Bridge Port of Entry for vehicle travelers. CBP will deploy a facial comparison system comprised of a camera to test and evaluate capturing facial biometrics of vehicle travelers entering and departing the United States and compare those images to photos on file in government holdings.
“This technical demonstration will help inform the agency on next steps to developing and implementing biometric entry/exit in the land border vehicular environment,” said David P. Higgerson, Director of Field Operations, Laredo Field Office. “Similar to how this technology has had negligible impact on traffic flow in the air environment, we anticipate minimal impact in the vehicular environment as images will be taken 'at speed' as the vehicle is moving.”
The technology will be deployed to two inbound and two outbound vehicle lanes at the Anzalduas International Bridge. Any vehicle occupants passing through the lanes with the facial comparison technology will have their photographs taken as part of this demonstration. These lanes will be clearly marked allowing those travelers in vehicles to chose to use the unequipped lanes if they do not want to participate in the demonstration.
As part of this demonstration, CBP will measure and evaluate the camera solution’s ability to capture a quality facial image for each occupant position in the vehicle and the biometric matching accuracy of images captured. The test results will inform CBP on future technology deployments.
The demonstration will be in place for up to a year. Travelers are not required to complete any additional CBP processing; as a result, CBP anticipates minimal impact to the traffic flow at the Anzalduas International Bridge.
The images taken during the testing will be used for purposes of this limited project only and will not be permanently retained or shared with any other party or system. CBP remains committed to protecting the privacy of all travelers.
Facial biometrics will improve CBP’s entry and exit identification of travelers which will enhance CBP’s ability to secure the border, identify aliens who have overstayed their period of admission, identify persons of interest, and improve reporting and analysis of travelers entering and departing the United States. This technology demonstration is a direct result of recommendations from the 9/11 Commission, and addresses outstanding Congressional mandates to biometrically record the entry and exit of non-U.S. citizens.