The United States Customs and Border Protection agency has taken advantage of rising improvements of technology. Border Patrol is responsible for safeguarding the nation’s borders. Customs and Border Protection is responsible for the interception of illegal goods through ports of entry such as airports or ship terminals. Together, the mission statement of the agency is “o safeguard America's borders thereby protecting the public from dangerous people and materials while enhancing the Nation's global economic competitiveness by enabling legitimate trade and travel.” They are also responsible for the interception of people attempting to enter the United States illegally. This paper will analyze just a few of these new technologies being deployed by the agency to combat these issues. The technologies work to create a safer environment for the agents as well as a more effective approach to the ongoing illegal good interception. Those technologies have been used in Arizona, Washington, Detroit, and many international airports. Many other systems are being tested out for future use. Customs and Border Protection continues to advance in the technology world by using their Office of Information and Technology (OIT). This office is responsible for “implementation and support of information technology, research and development functions, and automation and technological strategies for meeting mission-related needs.”
The first technological deployment by the agency that will be addressed is the adaptation to the cameras and radar being used in Arizona. This will combine the use of both items to achieve the overall goal in a faster, more efficient, manner. The combination of these two types of technology will allow the agents to view a much larger area. With the view area much larger, the agents will not have to travel deep into dangerous areas to catch people attempting to cross the border. This creates a much safer working environment for the agents involved. “We are seeing a safer border environment, with far less activity related to narcotic trafficking and migrant crossings. I believe this can be attributed to hard-working agents supported by advanced detection technology and supported by collaboration from a multitude of other agencies” The cameras with the radar will be placed on towers to cover a larger area, through a significant amount of rough terrain. They are also working to create smaller, more remote cameras that allows agents to transport them to different locations easily. This technology has the ability to cut typical interdiction time down by about seven hours. One of the first locations that this technology was used was on the Nogales towers in Arizona. The towers get the energy from solar panels and are located on top of the rolling hills to ensure the best effectiveness. The picture above is that of the camera and radar technology being used on the Nogales towers in Arizona. These towers are still in the trial period; however, U.S. Customs and Border Protection plans to have them fully functional in a short period of time.
In Washington, Customs and Border Protection have taken the use of technology that has already been invented to their advantage. For a few years, the border protection agents have done searches of mobiles devices of passengers that were stopped for questioning on the border. The searches are done by agents and involve going through things such as messages or emails for any suspicious activity. Typically, the agents discover that the person in question is not going where they planned, or maybe have different intentions than they revealed to the border patrol agents. This has been successful in “combatting terrorist activity, child pornography, violations of export controls, intellectual property rights violations, and visa fraud.” The number of phones searches has increased due to the positive results that have been found, and the increasing awareness of the agency for potential in these searches. The graph below shows the increase in the number of devices searched by agents from the fiscal year 2016 to the fiscal year 2017.
The searches of the devices are not done randomly to any person passing through the border. For the device to be searches, there are a few steps that happen prior. For one, the individual is pulled aside and brought inside for further questioning. This is done when agents may see something that is out of the ordinary such as no luggage for a long trip, a dog alerts to potential drugs, or passports that may seem out of place. Once this is done the agents pull the vehicle to the side for secondary inspection, to which the individuals may be questioned. It is at this point that agents can determine whether or not there is sufficient cause to dig deeper and search the devices.
The next technology use by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency involves Customs officers rather than Border Patrol agents. This technology began in Atlanta, Georgia for testing and was then improved in Miami, Florida. This technology is called the facial recognition biometric exit technology. What this item does is, it takes live photos of members on a flight. These photos are then matched up to the photos on the identification cards used to originally book the flight. For example, if a man named John Smith booked a flight using someone else’s identification cards, and has no physical resemblance to that person, he will be caught due to the live photos. More airlines are beginning to adapt this technology, such as Delta and JetBlue, in order to create a safer environment for individuals on their flights. Customs and Border protection ensures that the photos that are being taken are disposed of after not being used, however if the system works to catch an individual, their photo may be held onto for a longer period of time. This technology is now being tested for use at Boston Logan Airport, John F. Kennedy Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Chicago O’Hare international Airport, McCarran International Airport, and Hobby International Airport. With increasing deployments and successes with this facial recognition technology, airlines are working to use it to improve the flying process. Such as by using the facial recognition to get on the flight instead of using a boarding pass, however this is still being tested for effectiveness.
Another technology that is being used by Customs Officers in airports involved the use of a device called the Gemini. This has the potential to identify up to 14,000 different chemicals through a handheld device. The potential of this device can create a safer environment for the officers working first hand with unknown chemical substances such as drugs. This can be related to the ongoing fentanyl epidemic that is widespread throughout the nation. This substance has been seen to cause death to first responders who come in contact with the material. Aside from chemical drugs such as fentanyl, the Gemini can work to identify thousands of other materials that can present a danger to the people around it. By developing this technology, the agency is able to responder in a much quicker and safer manner to avoid any unnecessary illnesses. The device, as shown below, is extremely transportable and can save agents hours of time in identifying the substances.
“Our officers now have the ability to safely sample unknown substances in real time, and get instant results. This in turn saves time while protecting our officers and the general public from potentially hazardous materials”
Although this device is only seen in the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, it is expected to grow to the surrounding airports as well.
The last technology discussed in this paper, that is being used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the Remote Video Surveillance System (RVSS). This system is commercially built, by General Dynamics, and is relatively low in cost. This system uses cameras as well as laser illuminations and microwave transmitters. The RVSS has the potential to reach extremely far distances, potentially capturing images of individuals crossing the border before they even get to the border. This enables for a much faster response, and lessens the possibility of losing sight of the suspect in dangerous areas. The system allows for constant surveillance of the areas and can also be transportable. The system has developed to create smaller versions that can be set up in multiple locations. As of right now, this system has 150 towers on the Southern border, 50 on the Northern border, and 30 in surrounding locations. It has also developed to create systems like the RVSS, “These programs include the recently awarded design and delivery of CBP’s Relocatable Remote Video Surveillance System (R-RVSS) under Federal Aviation Administration Technical Support Services Contract (TSSC-4)” This evolving system would appear to be in the best interest of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency, however the funding for it was cut significantly. Funding for other technology programs have been cut as well in the fiscal year 2019 draft.
Observing the previously mentioned technologies shows great potential for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency in combatting crimes. Whether it be on the border implementing the use of cameras and radars together, or in airports identifying false identification, the agency is well ahead of what it was in previous years. The ever-growing technologies prove to be extremely beneficial for law enforcement agencies, and appear to be continuously used. The safety of the population as well as the safety of the agents and officers working every day is crucial. These programs work to benefit both the agent and the people of the United States. It is also seen to create a safer environment for those attempting to cross the border. With the cameras and radar capturing images from much further distances, the individuals are more likely to be seen, thus lessening the possibility that they would get injured or sick in dangerous environments. For the agents, they are aware of the situations that they are going into far ahead of time. With the remote device that can identify potentially lethal substances before being in contact for a long amount of time, agents can work in a more effective environment. This also keeps the citizens safe and free from outside dangers. Searching mobile phones may stop a potential terrorist attack from happening, or from an individual who has child porn from causing danger to the public. These technologies serve an incredible purpose for the people of the United States of America. As the technologies begin to develop, it is prevalent that agencies such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection will use them to their advantage in ensuring the mission statement of the agency; “To safeguard America's borders thereby protecting the public from dangerous people and materials while enhancing the Nation's global economic competitiveness by enabling legitimate trade and travel.”