Fingerprints before exit

Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is a testing ground for a new federal program to collect digital fingerprints from non-U.S. citizens leaving the United States.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security launched the $5.5 million pilot program at Hartsfield and Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.

It already collects fingerprints from most non-U.S. citizens who arrive at U.S. ports of entry or apply for visas. The US-VISIT program being tested in Atlanta focuses on exit procedures before passengers board flights, covering about 800 non-U.S. citizens at Hartsfield daily. It follows a similar pilot program several years ago which was not fully expanded because of problems with the process.

Homeland Security said exit fingerprinting can determine “faster and more accurately whether non-U.S. citizens have departed the United States on time or remained in the country illegally.”

The new pilot program tests two systems, with the Transportation Security Administration taking fingerprints at security checkpoints in Atlanta and U.S. Customs and Border Protection taking fingerprints in gate areas in Detroit.

The International Air Transport Association, which represents airlines, said it is concerned that the process could disrupt operations. “If passengers are delayed or miss their flight,” said IATA spokesman Steve Lott, “we’re the ones that get the complaints.”

The pilot program runs until July 2. The Homeland Security Department plans to then launch the new exit procedures starting next year.