Program to track citizen border crossings exceeds expectations

A security initiative to track citizens of countries that border the United States as they enter and leave the states by land and sea has surpassed expectations, a Homeland Security Department official said on Wednesday.

On June 1, the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative began requiring citizens from the United States, Canada, Mexico and Bermuda to show a passport or other approved document when entering and leaving U.S. ports by land or sea. The rule has applied to air travelers since January 2007.

"So far results are extremely impressive and definitely exceeding my expectation," Colleen Manaher, director of the WHTI program, said at the Gov 2.0 Summit in Washington. She dismissed criticism reported in USA Today that the program hurt communities that are dependent on tourism revenue.

DHS' Customs and Border Protection reported a 93 percent compliance rate the first day the bureau began checking documents at land and sea borders, Manaher said. After the first week, CBP reported 95.7 percent compliance, and now, three months after rolling out the requirement, compliance remains steady at 95.6 percent nationwide.

The new system, which cut the number of documents accepted at land and sea borders from hundreds down to six -- including U.S. passports, U.S. passport cards and enhanced driver's licenses -- has shaved as many as eight seconds off the verification process. Twenty-three percent of all documents presented are enabled with radio frequency identification technology, Manaher said, which allows border agents to verify a traveler's identity by electronically matching an ID number stored on the RFID chip with biographical information in a secure database. CBP officials said they hope to see the use of RFID-enabled documents increase.

"This translates into time savings for every [citizen]," Manaher said, because less time is required to review and verify the authenticity of documents.

CBP is trying to identify areas that need improvement, and targeting markets with lower compliance to educate citizens about the requirements. The agency also launched an education campaign for the 2010 winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C., to ensure U.S. citizens are prepared to comply with the program as they cross the border into Canada.

"CBP will remain committed to working with travelers; we also believe education is a far better strategy than hammering on enforcement," Manaher said.