Biometrics Identify, Deter Illegal Migrants
- By Ralph C. Jensen
- Nov 20, 2007
The Coast Guard has a difficult assignment -- securing more than 95,000 miles of America’s coastal borders.
Coast Guard officials have, however, found a useful technology in biometrics, which helps increase maritime domain awareness through positive identification of those people detained by the federal agency. Biometrics also is part of a collaborative effort to deter illegal migration via successful prosecution.
Biometrics is an information-sharing effort between US-VISIT and the Coast Guard, which addresses the challenge of identification of illegal migrants who are stopped at sea. It allows the Coast Guard to digitally capture fingerprints from those migrants apprehended at sea. Satellite technology allows for immediate comparison of migrant information against that already known in the US-VISIT database, including information on wanted criminals, immigration violators and those who have had previous run-ins with the government.
The program has been so successful, it has significantly advanced the effort to develop effective mobile solutions for biometric collection and analysis.
What this truly means is that the Coast Guard is now better able to secure the country's coastal border while fulfilling its multi-mission service with the Department of Homeland Security.
About the Author
Ralph C. Jensen is the Publisher/Editor in chief of Security Today magazine.