DHS Begins Outbound Fingerprinting at Atlanta and Detroit Airports

Effective May 28, 2009, the Department of Homeland Security (”DHS”) began collecting biometric digital fingerprints from non-U.S. citizens departing the U.S.  We wrote last April about the possibility of exit fingerprinting and it seems that DHS is underway to test the system and to implement it throughout other points of departure from the U.S. within one year.

The outbound fingerprinting is part of a pilot to test program implemented at this point only at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International and Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airports.  Non-U.S. citizens leaving the United States from Detroit and Atlanta airports should expect to have their biometrics collected before boarding their flights. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers will collect biometrics at the boarding ate from non-U.S. citizens departing from Detroit; U.S. transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers will collect biometrics at security checkpoints from non-U.S. citizens departing from Atlanta.

The rationale behind outbound fingerprinting is that it would allow DHS “to determine faster and more accurately whether non-U.S. citizens have departed the United States on time or remained in the country illegally,” according to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano.  It is not clear what measures, if any, DHS would take if, upon outboung fingerprinting, it recognizes that a traveler has overstayed his or her visa or has otherwise engaged in an immigration violation.