The Department of Homeland Security has run an operational test of facial biometric capture on pedestrians leaving the United States, mounting cameras along the walkway at the Progreso International Bridge in Texas and matching images without asking travellers to stop.
Customs and Border Protection asked the Science and Technology Directorate in October 2025 for systems that could confirm the departure of pedestrians at land crossings using biometrics. More than 1.1 million pedestrians exit to Mexico each year at Progreso alone, according to Bridge Director Marga A. Lopez.
“To meet long-standing legislative requirements and Administration priorities, S&T facilitated the technology demonstration to support CBP in testing cutting-edge technologies to efficiently perform its mission,” said Arun Vemury, the directorate’s senior advisor for biometrics and identity.
Six companies were invited to the Maryland Test Facility early this year for capability demonstrations. Three solutions went forward for operational data collection: two from NEC National Security Systems and a joint offering from Paravision and AiFi. The work ran under Cooperative Research and Development Agreements, under which the vendors covered their own costs.
Before deploying to the border, the directorate built a replica of the pedestrian exit environment at the Maryland facility so vendors could install and assess prototypes in a controlled setting. The partners moved to Progreso in May.
The conditions are harder than a terminal. Systems had to cope with varying walking pace, hats, sunglasses and umbrellas, outdoors, in daylight and after dark. Cameras were mounted on a pergola, among its rafters and on support poles at different heights to suit travellers of different statures, and night tests used external lighting with different camera alignments.
The vendors applied AI to build a three-dimensional model of the capture zone, track pedestrian movement through it, and judge whether a captured face was good enough to match against CBP’s Traveler Verification Service.
Signs in English and Spanish told pedestrians that US citizens could opt out, and an opt-out lane was provided. The biometric entry and exit mandate applies to non-citizen travellers.
“It is one thing for a technology to work in a lab like MdTF, but it is significantly more difficult when the tech is deployed operationally at the border,” said Dr. Cameron Whitelam, director of the directorate’s Biometric, Identity, and Advanced Computing Division. “At Progreso, it had to work with limited infrastructure, in a challenging environment, and do it autonomously. And it did just that.”
Land borders have been the hardest part of the biometric exit programme to close, well behind air travel. DHS finalised a rule mandating biometric exit for all non-citizens last year.
Sources: Department of Homeland Security
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
