DHS to speed traveler identity verification – NextGov
The Homeland Security Department plans to increase the speed of database searches that verify the identities of travelers entering the U.S. by land to finally enforce a June 2009 document requirement, according to an inspector general audit.
The so-called Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative stipulates that citizens from the United States, Canada, Bermuda and Mexico arriving at U.S. land ports must present passports or other approved documents to enter the country. But DHS’ Customs and Border Protection has failed to provide CBP officers with detailed steps they must take to confirm the identities of travelers without papers, and thus is not fully enforcing the rule.
