U.S. Customs and Border Protection says it has now verified the identity of more than 1 billion travelers using facial biometrics at air, land and sea ports of entry.
The milestone reflects CBP’s biometric entry-exit program, which uses facial comparison to confirm travelers’ identities as they arrive in and depart the United States. Since 2018, CBP says, biometric matching has identified more than 600,000 people who overstayed their authorized stay and more than 2,300 impostors.
CBP says facial comparison is now part of the entry process at every U.S. airport with international arrivals, including Preclearance locations abroad, and at exit from 66 U.S. airports. It is also in use at 42 seaports, including facial debarkation at 25 locations with closed-loop cruises, and in all pedestrian lanes at ports of entry on the southwest and northern borders. The agency has started deploying it to vehicle lanes at select land crossings and reports matching accuracy above 98 percent. Enhanced Passenger Processing, which matches arriving U.S. citizens against photos already on file, operates at airports including Phoenix Sky Harbor.
“Accurately verifying the identity of over 1 billion travelers at air, land, and sea with facial biometrics signifies a historic achievement for CBP and the Department of Homeland Security,” said Diane J. Sabatino, executive assistant commissioner of CBP’s Office of Field Operations.
Congress assigned the biometric entry-exit mission to CBP in 2013, requiring the agency to identify every non-citizen entering and leaving the country. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in July 2025, gave CBP $673 million to expand biometric entry-exit systems across all U.S. ports of entry. CBP says it is now extending facial biometrics to vehicle entry and to crew and passenger embarkation.
Departures on foot remain an area of testing. With the DHS Science and Technology Directorate, CBP has trialed walk-through facial capture of pedestrians leaving the country at a Texas border crossing, and the agency says it is exploring a similar test for vehicle exit.
CBP is also applying facial comparison to trusted traveler processing. Global Entry Modernization is testing on-the-move facial capture for members, and CBP has opened a procurement for a Global Entry facial comparison system at airports.
CBP says it discards photos of U.S. citizens within 12 hours of verification and enrolls non-U.S. citizens in a DHS biometric system as confirmation of entry or departure. U.S. citizens and other eligible travelers can decline the photo and request a manual document check.
Sources: U.S. Customs and Border Protection
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
