New York Senator Charles E. Schumer called for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to invest in a new security device that would prevent suspected terrorists from boarding planes and getting past terror no fly lists. The device electronically scans passenger identifications and would cross check IDs with the terror watch list, weed out forged identifications, and track visa overstays. Implemented nationally, the system would electronically link, in real time, all airport ports of entry and exit to the terror watch list.
Schumer believes that if a similar system had been in place when Faisal Shahzad tried to board an Emirates flight to Dubai, it is unlikely he would have made it aboard. Schumer pointed out that the Faisal Shahzad incident revealed that there are still gaps in our ability to prevent persons from flying on airplanes who have been placed on either the terrorist watch list or no-fly list and that relying solely on the airlines and security personnel to discover potential security risks has proven insufficient.
In his letter to the Secretary of the DHS, Janet Napolitano, Schumer pointed out that Congress has appropriated $50 million as part of the DHS Appropriations Act of 2010 for the purpose of developing an electronic exit-entry security system at airports across the country. Schumer noted that Intellicheck Mobilisa, a company located in Woodbury LI, currently produces an identification verification device that is protecting over 50 military and federal locations across the country by instantly reading, analyzing, and verifying encoded data in magnetic stripes and barcodes on government-issue IDs. He is requesting that DHS invest in this new technology and implement a pilot program that would integrate the technology at a New York airport.
“It’s high time we have a sophisticated and integrated security system at our nation’s airports,” said Schumer. “If we have learned anything in the effort to apprehend Mr. Shahzad, it’s that we need a fully integrated airport security system that can immediately identify, in-real time, passengers who should not be flying.
“This device would immediately remove the potential for human error by electronically linking identification with no fly lists, spot phony ids, and track Visa overstays for better tracking of foreign visitors,” he added.
Airport security agents currently cross check passengers with a terror-watch list that is distributed to carriers and security personnel at airports. It is the responsibility of security personnel to cross check ID’s with the most recently sent no-fly list. Schumer’s plan would automatically link electronic identification scanners to the watch list and remove the potential for human error. It will also link in real time any updates to the list. The new device, set up at airport security gates across the country would do the following:
- Electronically scan and verify the identification provided by an airline passenger in order to board a flight to verify if it is a valid lawful identification;
- Electronically obtain the name on the identification provided by the passenger and electronically scan all terrorist watch lists and the no-fly list to provide notification to TSA agents as to whether the passenger has been designated for further scrutiny or detention;
- And electronically scan the passenger’s passport—if the passenger’s airplane ticket indicates that the passenger will be boarding an international flight—and integrate the scanner with our US-VISIT entry-exit system to ensure that a record is created of that passenger leaving the country so that they are not classified as a visa overstay that needs to be searched for or apprehended allowing DHS to focus its interior enforcement resources on a far smaller pool of known individuals who have overstayed their visa.
“The resources exist to jump-start a more sophisticated and fool-proof security system at our nation’s airports,” said Schumer. “We were fortunate that Shahzad was apprehended before his plane ever took off, but we need to make sure that in the future, someone on the watch-list never even makes it past the security gates. We all know something like this must be done. The only question is whether we will have the will to do this before or after another terrorist boards a U.S. flight.”
Full article By Sara Gelber, GSN Magazine
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