U.S. Customs and Border Patrol's Role in Information Security Essay

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol's Role in Information Security - Essay Example   Since a long time the Congress has identified that there is a requirement of a border security system which would gather data regarding the overseas citizens coming in and out of the United States and which would also recognize the persons who are overstaying their visits. In 1996 there was the implementation of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) (Newton, 2008) in the United States which was one of the legislative attempts for the creation of an entry-exit control mechanism which were to be used for recording and matching entries and exits of the overseas citizens who travelled to the United States. One of the requirements of this act is to see that there is integration by the entry-exit system of the foreign entries and exit data that is recorded in the databases of the Department of Justice and State Department. Following the attacks of 9/11, there have been more laws addressing the use of biometric technology within a foreign arrival departure control mechanism. For instance, there is the USA Patriot Act (Scheppler, 2005) which authorizes that such a mechanism should have the ability of interfacing with other law enforcement associations, and also that the system makes use of biometric technology and files which are tamper-resistant. Other than this, there is a requirement by the Aviation and Transport Security Act for the airplanes to electronically transfer apparent data for each of the intercontinental flight passengers and the crew members to the Commissioner of Customs prior to the plane landing at an airport in the United States. Additionally, there is the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act which has the requirement of using biometrics in the files for traveling and this act expands the passenger entry apparent needs in the Aviation and Transportation Security Act to t he ships as well as to the air and sea exits.