Photo Courtesy of CBP
Customs officers recently used new biometric technology to intercept an impostor passenger at JFK Airport.
By Forum Staff
Federal officers recently used new biometric technology to intercept an impostor at John F. Kennedy International Airport, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.
On Jan. 19, a 26-year-old woman traveling from Mexico City, Mexico, and toting a U.S. passport presented herself for inspection to a CBP officer. According to authorities, the officer suspected that the woman may be an imposter to the travel document, so he escorted her to another area for further inspection.
The CBP officer then utilized a new technology which uses facial recognition to determine if the passenger was, in fact, the true bearer of the U.S. passport. Based on the results of the facial recognition and the officer’s interview, the woman was determined to be an imposter to the travel documents she had presented.
Using another person’s identity document is a serious violation of U.S. immigration laws that could result in criminal prosecution, CBP officials noted. In this case, the traveler was found to be inadmissible to the country and was returned to Mexico on the next available flight.
“CBP has many tools at our disposal in our collective tool bag, but this case illustrates the value of the CBP officer on the ground,” said Troy Miller, CBP’s director of the New York Field Office. “This traveler was apprehended utilizing CBP’s layered enforcement strategy and technology coupled with the CBP officer’s expertise. This force multiplier is essential in apprehending those persons that would look to break our immigration laws and perhaps cause harm to the citizens of the United States.”
