CBP’s Biometric Screening Program Now Extends Across New York Border

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that its facial recognition-based Simplified Arrival program has been expanded to include all pedestrian border crossings in New York state.

The latest expansion includes Alexandria Bay, Ogdensburg, Massena, Trout River, Fort Covington, Chateaugay and Churubusco, as well as Buffalo, which was the first point of entry in the state to receive it back in November of 2020.

“I am excited to announce the deployment of biometric facial comparison technology to these additional border crossings,” said Buffalo Director of Field Operations Rose Brophy. “This new cutting-edge technology will help secure and streamline travel while providing a safe, touchless identification process for travelers.”

The Simplified Arrival program is the CBPs enhanced international arrival initiative which aims to streamline the processing of passengers entering and exiting the US by doing away with manual document checks in favor of biometric authentication in the form of facial recognition.

In addition to looking to speed up the entry and exit of travellers, Simplified Arrival is also the CBP’s way of increasing its resistance to fraud and illegal entry into the country while fulfilling a Congressional mandate requiring the biometric data of any non-US citizens entering or exiting the country, the agency says.

The program works by having travelers submit a photo at a primary inspection point, and then using facial recognition software to compare an individual’s face biometrics to those extracted from photo ID. If the two sets of data match then the individual is verified and the process is complete.

Simplified Arrival is only mandatory for non-US citizens and excludes a select group of foreign nationals who already have their biometric information on file with the CBP.

The addition of the northern New York pedestrian crossings adds to a rapidly growing list of entry points into the US that are now supporting the program, including the recent addition of Tampa International Airport (TPA), and a number of other border crossings in various locations around the US, including Texas, California, and Arizona.

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May 6, 2021 – by Tony Bitzionis