Department of Homeland Security August 4, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Homeland Security has established the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology Program, an integrated, automated entry-exit system that records the arrival and departure of aliens; verifies aliens' identities; and authenticates aliens' travel documents through comparison of biometric identifiers. On August 31, 2004, the Department of Homeland Security implemented the second phase of the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology Program by publishing an interim rule in the Federal Register authorizing collection of biometric data from travelers upon admission at the 50 most highly trafficked land border ports-of-entry. This Notice informs the public of the further expansion of the second phase of the program by establishing a limited testing or proof of concept protocol for automatically documenting the exits and any subsequent re-entries of nonimmigrant travelers at five United States land border ports-of-entry crossings utilizing radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. The purpose of this testing is to determine if RFID technology can improve the efficiency of processing individuals who seek to enter or exit the United States at a land border port-of-entry. This program of testing will last approximately one year.