While the recent budget deal may provide some relief for agencies charged with transportation domain security, this year the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will face infinite national security challenges with a finite amount of funding. The DHS should be applauded for adopting prioritized “risk-based” strategies to deter national security threats. It should strongly consider greater use of proven technologies to enhance this approach going forward to bolster port security.
In 2014, the U.S. will take steps towards implementing a biometric EXIT program to complement the existing U.S. VISIT program (now known as IDENT), which captures biometric data of foreign travelers entering the country. The IDENT program requires visitors from non-visa waiver countries to provide their biometric data upon entering the United States. Unfortunately no comprehensive program exists to track the departure of these same individuals. This presents a national security risk as DHS is currently unable to accurately determine whether a visitor, fugitive or terrorist has departed the U.S.