U.S. reportedly plans to photograph people leaving the country by vehicle at border crossings
People exiting the United States by vehicle could be photographed at the border crossings, WIRED reported on Friday. No timeline was provided for when this system comes into effect.
The photographs taken at the border crossings will be matched to commuters’ travel documents such as passports, green cards and visas to verify identity. When implemented, the system will impact outbound lanes going to Canada and Mexico.
This will be an expansion to the agency’s existing practice, spokesperson for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Jessica Turner told WIRED. CBP already takes photos of people entering the U.S. and matches it with their respective travel documents.
“Although we are still working on how we would handle outbound vehicle lanes, we will ultimately expand to this area,” Turner tells WIRED.
The Verge reports CBP collects biometric data (photograph, finger prints etc) of travellers exiting from 57 U.S. airports. But the border protection agency reportedly has no program monitoring people leaving the U.S. by a vehicle.
The goal of an outbound system, Turner told the publication, would be to “biometrically confirm departure from the U.S.”
Canadians already wary of travelling to the U.S.
Earlier this week, some drivers returning to Canada reported additional checkpoints at B.C.-Canada border that CBP told National Post was a regular inspection.
“As part of its national security mission U.S. Customs and Border Protection routinely conducts inspections on outbound traffic. These inspections are a vital tool in apprehending wanted individuals as well as in seizing a variety of contraband – which ultimately makes our communities safer,” CBP told National Post on Tuesday.
Although the checkpoint was shortly taken down, one B.C. resident told Global News that the searches on other vehicles made her “very uncomfortable.”
“I don’t want to call it a blockade but… they were stopping people and I held up our Nexus cards and the U.S. customs agent waved us through but as I passed, because our windows are down, he said, ‘Let’s stop and check the next one,’” Leslie, who wanted to be identified by her first name, told Global News .
The sentiment mirrors a majority of Canadians who said travelling to the U.S. could be unsafe and unwelcome , as seen in the findings of a recent poll by Leger conducted for the Association for Canadian Studies (ACS).
The survey evaluated responses from 1,626 across Canada from May 1 and May 3. Out of which, majority (52 per cent) said it is no longer safe for all Canadians travelling to the U.S. Slightly more (54 per cent) said they don’t feel welcome anymore.
“If Canadians have serious concerns about this, it has ramifications for our ongoing travel and interaction with Americans and with the United States,” president and CEO of the ACS, Jack Jedwab told National Post. “It’s something that needs to be addressed and it’s something that Mr. Carney needs to help Mr. Trump understand.”
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