NCJ Number
173827
Date Published
1998
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article discusses how the Border Patrol is using technology to capture and deter illegal entrants into the United States.
Abstract
The IDENT system, an adaptation of the US Navy's Deployable Mass-Population Identification & Tracking System, captures a digital print from the index finger of each hand and a digital photograph of each illegal entrant over 14 who is caught by Border Patrol agents or apprehended by Immigration and Naturalization Service agents at ports of entry. IDENT allows the Border Patrol to trace recidivist entrants as they try new entry areas and to identify "coyotes," persons who attempt to smuggle large numbers of aliens across the border. Data from the field are stored in a computer in Washington, DC. The Border Patrol also uses the following technology and equipment: (1) underground sensors that detect motion and a system permitting the computerized response of agents to sensor hits; (2) 45 infrared scopes; (3) reinforced fencing, doubled in length to 38 miles, with a triple fence under construction along a crucial 14-mile section of the border; (4) almost five miles of high-intensity lighting and 98 portable lighting platforms; (5) 11 aircraft for border surveillance and agent support; and (6) almost 2,000 patrol vehicles, many of them sturdy sport utility vehicles. Tables, notes