International travelers at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) were some of the first to view the latest biometric technology from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2008.

Since February 2008, all international travelers arriving at IAH with non-US passports or visas were required to comply with the DHS’s new 10 fingerprint initiative.

Under the new identification procedure, United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) began replacing all of their existing two-print scanners for 10-print models at all Federal Inspections Services (FIS) facilities.

“We want travelers to come to the United States, but we want them to know they are coming to a safe United States,” said Jeffrey Baldwin, director of field operations for CBP. “The 10-print scanner will help us do that through our security methods.”

The new machines use biometric technology to verify the identity of foreign travelers wishing to enter the country.

The program is designed to provide the DHS personnel with more accurate data, less false identification matches, enhanced security for both U.S. citizens and visitors, help with the facilitation of legitimate travel, assurance of the integrity of the immigration system and protection for the privacy of visitors to the U.S.

These collected prints are also checked against the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) criminal master file.

“We [the FBI] have agents here in the airport that work in a task force environment, ensuring that people that come into the country are who they say they are,” says Carlos Barron, special agent in charge of the Houston FBI office. “When dealing with fingerprints, clearly 10 is better than two. It’s very critical to have as much biometric information as you can.”

IAH was selected as one of the first airports in the country to deploy this initiative because of its significant international travel market.