Facial-recognition software meant to weed out travelers with fake passports will be rolled out to all international airports in the U.S. as part of a plan to crack down on identity fraud among visitors from countries with visa waiver agreements, according to Customs and Border Protection.
The move was announced this week as the State Department is expected to tighten restrictions on travelers from visa waiver countries who have recently visited Iran, Iraq, Syria and potentially fought for the Islamic State.
CBP launched the use of facial-recognition technology at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Tuesday to help verify the identify of travelers entering the United States. This comes after a two-month trial of the technology at Washington Dulles International Airport in 2015.
A CBP spokeswoman said the facial-recognition technology will be deployed full time at Dulles beginning in February.
Both U.S. citizens returning to the country and first-time visitors from the 38 countries that are allowed to enter the United States without a visa will be required to have photos taken.
In the case of U.S. citizens with e-Passports, the photo will be compared against the data stored in computer chip embedded in the document.
The program will also be used on first-time travelers from visa waiver program countries who are 18 and older “because DHS has identified an appreciable risk of passport and identity fraud among this population of travelers,” the DHS document states.
