DHS Collecting 10 Fingerprints at JFK Airport
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on March 25, 2008, that it has begun collecting additional fingerprints from international visitors arriving at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). The change is part of the DHS’s upgrade from two- to 10-fingerprint collection to enhance security and facilitate legitimate travel.
On an average day at JFK, the DHS noted, almost 14,400 international visitors complete biometric procedures. Visitors from Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, and Japan comprise the largest numbers of international visitors arriving at JFK.
JFK is the tenth port of entry to begin collecting 10 fingerprints from international visitors. Washington Dulles International Airport began 10-fingerprint collection on November 29, 2007. Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Boston Logan International Airport, Chicago O’Hare International Airport, George Bush Houston Intercontinental Airport, San Francisco International Airport, Miami International Airport, Orlando International Airport, and Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport have also begun 10-fingerprint collection.
Under the USVISIT program, the agency is evaluating 10fingerprint collection at these airports. It will use the results to inform the deployment of the technology to the remaining air, sea, and land border ports of entry that will transition to collecting 10 fingerprints by December 2008.
