80 FR 44983 - Test To Collect Biometric Information at Up to Ten U.S. Airports (“Be-Mobile Air Test”)

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 144 (July 28, 2015)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) intends to conduct a test to collect biometric and biographic information from certain aliens who are departing the United States on selected flights from up to ten identified U.S. airports. This notice describes the test, its purpose, how it will be implemented, the individuals covered, the duration of the test, where the test will take place, and the privacy considerations. This test will not apply to U.S. citizens.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 144 (Tuesday, July 28, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44983-44986]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-18418]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. Customs and Border Protection


Test To Collect Biometric Information at Up to Ten U.S. Airports 
(``Be-Mobile Air Test'')

AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Department of Homeland 
Security.

ACTION: General notice.

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SUMMARY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) intends to conduct a 
test to collect biometric and biographic information from certain 
aliens who are departing the United States on selected flights from up 
to ten identified U.S. airports. This notice describes the test, its 
purpose, how it will be implemented, the individuals covered, the 
duration of the test, where the test will take place, and the privacy 
considerations. This test will not apply to U.S. citizens.

DATES: The test will begin no earlier than July 6, 2015, and will run 
for approximately one year. The test will be rolled out over this one-
year period at up to ten of the following airports: Los Angeles 
International Airport, Los Angeles, California; San Francisco 
International Airport, San Francisco, California; Miami International 
Airport, Miami, Florida; Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International 
Airport, Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago O'Hare International Airport, 
Chicago, Illinois; Newark Liberty International Airport, Newark, New 
Jersey; John F. Kennedy International Airport, Jamaica, New York; 
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas, Texas; George Bush 
Intercontinental Airport, Houston, Texas; and Washington Dulles 
International Airport, Sterling, Virginia.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edward Fluhr, Assistant Director, 
Entry/Exit Transformation Office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 
by phone at (202) 344-2377 or by email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The US-VISIT Program

    The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) established the United 
States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) 
Program in accordance with several federal statutory mandates requiring 
DHS to create an integrated, automated entry and exit system that 
records the arrival and departure of aliens, verifies the aliens' 
identities, and authenticates aliens' travel documents through the 
comparison of biometric identifiers. Under these various federal 
statutory mandates, certain aliens may be required to provide 
biometrics (including digital fingerprint scans, photographs, facial 
and iris images, or other biometric identifiers \1\) upon arrival in, 
or departure from, the United States.
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    \1\ As used in this notice, a ``biometric identifier'' is a 
physical characteristic or other physical attribute unique to an 
individual that can be collected, stored, and used to verify the 
identity of a person who presents himself or herself to a CBP 
officer at the border. To verify a person's identity, a similar 
physical characteristic or attribute is collected and compared 
against the previously collected identifier.
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    On March 16, 2013, US-VISIT's entry and exit operations, including 
deployment of a biometric exit system, were transferred to U.S. Customs 
and Border Protection (CBP). See Consolidated and Further Continuing 
Appropriations Act, 2013, Public Law 113-6, 127 Stat. 198 (2013). The 
Act also transferred the US-VISIT Program's overstay analysis function 
to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its biometric 
identity management services to the Office of Biometric Management 
(OBIM), a newly-created office within the National Protection and 
Programs Directorate. CBP assumed responsibility for operating 
biometric entry and implementing biometric exit programs on April 1, 
2013.
    Since the transfer of US-VISIT's entry and exit operations to CBP, 
CBP has continued to consider ways to collect

[[Page 44984]]

biometric information from departing aliens. This notice announces that 
CBP will be conducting the Biometric Exit Mobile (BE-Mobile) Air Test 
at up to ten of the identified U.S. airports. In this test, CBP 
officers will utilize wireless handheld devices to collect biographic 
and biometric information from certain aliens upon departure, 
biometrically record their departure, and screen their biometric data 
against a DHS biometric database \2\ in real time. This notice 
describes the BE-Mobile Air Test, its purpose, how it will be 
implemented, the individuals covered, the duration of the test, where 
the test will take place, and the privacy considerations.
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    \2\ See the Privacy Impact Assessment at http://www.dhs.gov/privacy-documents-us-customs-and-border-protection for more 
information about the databases where the biometric and biographic 
information will be maintained.
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Legal Authority

    The federal statutes that mandate DHS to create a biometric entry 
and exit system to record the arrival and departure of certain aliens 
include, but are not limited to:
     Section 2(a) of the Immigration and Naturalization Service 
Data Management Improvement Act of 2000 (DMIA), Public Law 106-215, 114 
Stat. 337 (2000);
     Section 205 of the Visa Waiver Permanent Program Act of 
2000, Public Law 106-396, 114 Stat. 1637, 1641 (2000);
     Section 414 of the Uniting and Strengthening America by 
Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct 
Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act), Public Law 107-56, 115 Stat. 
272, 353 (2001);
     Section 302 of the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry 
Reform Act of 2002 (Border Security Act), Public Law 107-173, 116 Stat. 
543, 552 (2002);
     Section 7208 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism 
Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA), Public Law 108-458, 118 Stat. 3638, 
3817 (2004); and
     Section 711 of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/
11 Commission Act of 2007, Public Law 110-52, 121 Stat. 266 (2007).
    Section 7208 of the IRTPA, as codified at 8 U.S.C. 1365b, 
specifically requires that DHS's entry and exit data system collect 
biometric exit data for all categories of individuals who are required 
to provide biometric entry data.
    On January 5, 2004, DHS published an interim final rule (IFR) in 
the Federal Register (69 FR 468) implementing the first phase of US-
VISIT at specified air and sea ports of entry. This IFR amended section 
235.1 of title 8 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) (8 CFR 235.1) 
to authorize the Secretary to require certain aliens seeking admission 
into the United States through nonimmigrant visas to provide 
fingerprints, photographs, or other biometric identifiers to CBP upon 
arrival in, or departure from, the United States at air or sea ports of 
entry.\3\ The specified air and sea ports of entry where such 
collection of biometric information was to occur were designated by 
notice in the Federal Register. 69 FR 482 (January 5, 2004). DHS also 
published two additional notices expanding the list of designated air 
and sea ports. See 69 FR 46556 (August 3, 2004) and 69 FR 51695 (August 
20, 2004). Since then, aliens who are required under federal law to 
submit biometric information have been submitting fingerprints and 
photographs upon entry to the United States at designated air and sea 
ports of entry. The DHS biometric entry program is now operational at 
15 sea ports and 115 airports including the identified airports 
selected for the BE-Mobile Air Test.
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    \3\ The IFR also authorized the Secretary to establish pilot 
programs at up to fifteen air or sea ports of entry, to be 
identified by notice in the Federal Register, through which DHS may 
require certain aliens who depart from a designated air or sea port 
of entry to provide specified biometric identifiers and other 
evidence at the time of departure.
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    The second phase of US-VISIT was implemented on August 31, 2004 
when DHS published an IFR in the Federal Register (69 FR 53318) 
expanding the program to the fifty most highly trafficked land border 
ports-of-entry in the United States as required by 8 U.S.C. 
1365a(d)(2).\4\ The IFR also amended 8 CFR 215.8 to provide that the 
Secretary, or his designee, may establish pilot programs to collect 
biometric information from certain aliens departing the United States 
at land border ports of entry, and at up to fifteen air or sea ports of 
entry designated through notice in the Federal Register. Specifically, 
8 CFR 215.8(a)(1) provides that the Secretary, or his designee, may 
establish pilot programs through which the Secretary or his delegate 
may require an alien who departs the United States from a designated 
port of entry to provide fingerprints, photographs or other specified 
biometric identifiers, documentation of his or her immigration status 
in the United States, and such other evidence as may be requested to 
determine the alien's identity and whether he or she has properly 
maintained his or her status while in the United States. The IFR also 
specified that nonimmigrants seeking to enter the United States without 
a visa under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) are also required to provide 
biometric information to DHS.\5\
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    \4\ Section 1365a(d)(2) provides, in pertinent part, that 
``[n]ot later than December 31, 2004, the Attorney General [now the 
Secretary of Homeland Security] shall implement the integrated entry 
and exit data system . . . at the 50 land border ports of entry 
determined by the Attorney General to serve the highest numbers of 
arriving and departing aliens.''
    \5\ On December 19, 2008, DHS published a final rule in the 
Federal Register (73 FR 77473) which finalized the IFR without 
change.
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Previous Air Exit Pilots

    Pursuant to the authority in 8 CFR 215.8, on June 3, 2009, DHS 
published a notice in the Federal Register (74 FR 26721) announcing the 
commencement of two air exit pilot programs.\6\ In one of the pilot 
programs, CBP collected biometric information from certain aliens at or 
near the departure gate at the Detroit/Metropolitan Wayne County 
Airport in cooperation with Northwest Airlines. CBP collected biometric 
information from aliens departing the United States for foreign 
destinations who were subject to the biometric screening requirements. 
The biometric collection consisted of one or more electronic 
fingerprints captured using a mobile or portable device. CBP also 
collected biographic information, including travel document 
information, such as name, date of birth, document issuance type, 
country and number from these aliens. CBP stored and forwarded the 
departure records collected to a DHS database daily.
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    \6\ DHS also conducted air exit pilot programs at various ports 
of departure, in 2004, including Baltimore-Washington International 
Airport (BWI), pursuant to the authority in 8 CFR 215.8.
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    In the second pilot program, Transportation Security Administration 
(TSA) collected biometric and biographic information from certain 
aliens at the security checkpoint at the Atlanta/Hartsfield 
International Airport. Aliens departing the United States for foreign 
destinations who were subject to biometric screening requirements were 
directed to an area within the checkpoint where the biographic and 
biometric information was collected. The biometric collection consisted 
of one or more electronic fingerprints captured using a mobile or 
portable device. TSA also collected biographic information, including 
travel document information, such as name, date of birth, document 
issuance type, country and number from these aliens. TSA stored and 
forwarded the departure records collected to a DHS database daily.
    These pilot programs concluded on July 2, 2009. Although the 
technology used in these pilot programs worked,

[[Page 44985]]

DHS concluded that these collection mechanisms would be extremely 
resource intensive and very costly to implement long-term or at 
additional airports. Therefore, DHS did not expand or extend the 
pilots.

The Biometric Exit Mobile Air Test (``BE-Mobile Air Test'')

    The BE-Mobile Air Test is designed to test both a new biometric 
exit concept of operations at selected airports with CBP officers using 
a wireless handheld device at the departure gate to collect biometric 
and biographic data and CBP's outbound enforcement policies and 
workforce distribution procedures. This test will significantly differ 
from the 2009 pilot conducted by CBP in that the BE-Mobile Air Test 
will use improved technology, will enable CBP officers to receive real 
time information, will test a different concept of operations since law 
enforcement officers can perform checks in real time, and will be less 
resource intensive because CBP will conduct the test on fewer flights 
per week than during the 2009 pilot. Through the test, CBP will be able 
to conduct a statistically valid survey of the air outbound environment 
that will assist DHS in determining how to effectively implement an air 
biometric exit system. The BE-Mobile Air Test is one of CBP's key steps 
in developing the capability to fulfill DHS' mandate to collect 
biometric information from certain arriving and departing aliens.

Identified Airports

    CBP will conduct the BE-Mobile Air Test at up to ten of the 
following airports:
     Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, 
California;
     San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, 
California;
     Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida;
     Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, 
Georgia;
     Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois;
     Newark Liberty International Airport, Newark, New Jersey;
     John F. Kennedy International Airport, Jamaica, New York;
     Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas, Texas;
     George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston, Texas;
     Washington Dulles International Airport, Sterling, 
Virginia.
    The airports selected for the BE-Mobile Air Test will be identified 
on the CBP Web site, http://www.cbp.gov.

Description, Purpose and Implementation

    Currently, certain aliens seeking admission into the United States 
may be required to provide fingerprint and photographic biometric data 
at ports of entry, including at the ten identified airports. This data 
is used by CBP to verify the aliens' identities. (Certain aliens, 
including individuals traveling on A or G visas and others as specified 
in 8 CFR 235.1(f)(1)(iv), are exempt from this requirement).
    The BE-Mobile Air Test will be conducted at the identified airports 
on pre-selected outbound international flights. Flights will be pre-
selected on a random basis or chosen to correspond with existing 
outbound enforcement operations. For the selected flight, CBP officers 
will deploy to the departure gate and position themselves near the 
departing passenger loading bridge to collect certain data from certain 
departing travelers. Once travelers begin the departure process, CBP 
officers will review the traveler's travel document (passport, visa, 
lawful permanent resident card, or other qualifying travel document) to 
determine if the traveler is an alien who is required to submit 
biometric information at the time of departure as described in the next 
section, entitled ``Aliens Covered.'' If so, the CBP officers will 
obtain biographic data from these select aliens by swiping or inputting 
the information from the alien's travel document on a wireless handheld 
device.\7\ The biographic data collected during this test will be used 
to create a biographic-based departure record in a CBP biographic 
database. It will be paired with the biometric data collected to create 
a complete, biometrically-based departure record for that alien. The 
CBP officer will also capture two of the alien's fingerprints and 
verify the fingerprints against the alien's biometric identity record. 
Based on the results of the verification or additional law enforcement 
information, the officer may then perform additional analysis or 
conduct a further interview to determine if additional action may be 
appropriate. When the departure inspection is complete, the results of 
the transaction will be recorded in a DHS biometric database and a CBP 
biographic database in real time.
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    \7\ Air carriers will continue to report traveler information 
through the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS).
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    The primary mission of any biometric exit program is to provide 
assurance of traveler identity on departure, giving CBP the opportunity 
to match the departure with a prior arrival record. This capability 
enhances the integrity of the immigration system and the ability to 
accurately detect travelers that have overstayed their lawful period of 
admission to the United States.
    CBP will analyze and evaluate the test's performance based on a 
number of criteria, including the occurrence of watchlist matches based 
on biometric data, the occurrence of biometric-identified fraud, the 
occurrence of inaccurate APIS manifests, how overstay calculations are 
impacted, the transaction times for exit processing per traveler, the 
rate of successful transactions, the occurrence of law enforcement 
hits, including those requiring referral to secondary inspection, the 
observations from the CBP officers performing the test, and system 
performance. CBP will use the results of the BE-Mobile Air Test to 
determine strategic programmatic requirements for a comprehensive 
biometric exit solution.

Aliens Covered

    For the duration of the test, aliens must provide the biometric 
information described above at the time of departure of the selected 
international flights at one of the selected airports, except for 
aliens exempt pursuant to 8 CFR 215.8(a)(2) provided that the alien is 
in exempted status on the date of departure.
Exempted aliens include:
    (1) Canadian citizens who under section 101(a)(15)(B) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act are not otherwise required to present a 
visa or have been issued Form I-94 (see Sec.  1.4) or Form 1-95 upon 
arrival at the United States;
    (2) Aliens admitted on A-1, A-2, C-3 (except for attendants, 
servants, or personal employees of accredited officials), G-1, G-2, G-
3, G-4, NATO-1, NATO-2, NATO-3, NATO-4, NATO-5, or NATO-6 visas, and 
certain Taiwan officials who hold E-1 visas and members of their 
immediate families who hold E-1 visas who are maintaining such status 
at time of departure, unless the Secretary of State and the Secretary 
of Homeland Security jointly determine that a class of such aliens 
should be subject to this notice;
    (3) Children under the age of 14;
    (4) Persons over the age of 79;
    (5) Classes of aliens the Secretary of Homeland Security and the 
Secretary of State jointly determine shall be exempt; or
    (6) An individual alien whom the Secretary of Homeland Security, 
the Secretary of State, or the Director of Central Intelligence 
determines shall be exempt.

[[Page 44986]]

Duration of the Test

    CBP will collect biographic information and fingerprint data from 
select non-exempt aliens departing on selected international flights 
from the identified airports for a period of approximately one year 
from the start of the test. The information collected will constitute a 
departure record for that alien and will be maintained in the CBP and 
DHS databases for recording entries and departures.

Privacy

    CBP will ensure that all Privacy Act requirements and applicable 
policies are adhered to during the implementation of this test. 
Additionally, CBP will be issuing a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA), 
which will outline how CBP will ensure compliance with Privacy Act 
protections. The PIA will examine the privacy impact of the BE-Mobile 
Air Test as it relates to DHS's Fair Information Practice Principles 
(FIPPs). The FIPPs account for the nature and purpose of the 
information being collected in relation to DHS's mission to preserve, 
protect and secure the United States. The PIA will address issues such 
as the security, integrity, and sharing of data, use limitation and 
transparency. Once issued, the PIA will be made publicly available at: 
http://www.dhs.gov/privacy-documents-us-customs-and-border-protection. 
CBP has also issued an update to the DHS/CBP-007 Border Crossing 
Information (BCI) System of Records, which fully encompasses all the 
data that is being collected at the selected airports. The system of 
records notice (SORN) was published in the Federal Register on May 11, 
2015 (80 FR 26937).

Paperwork Reduction Act

    CBP requires aliens subject to this notice to provide biometric and 
biographic data at the airports selected for the test in the 
circumstances described above. This requirement is considered an 
information collection requirement under the Paperwork Reduction Act 
(44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.). The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), 
in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, has previously approved 
this information collection for use. The OMB control number for this 
collection is 1651-0138.

    Date: July 22, 2015.
R. Gil Kerlikowske,
Commissioner.
[FR Doc. 2015-18418 Filed 7-27-15; 8:45 am]
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