The U.S. Department of Homeland Security this fall plans to expand the Global Entry international registered traveler program to Atlanta, Chicago O'Hare, Los Angeles and Miami international airports. DHS said that since the initial 10 June launch, "approximately 1,100 members have already enrolled and roughly 370 Global Entry members have used kiosks at the three existing pilot locations" at Houston Bush Intercontinental, New York JFK and Washington Dulles international airports.
Administered by the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, Global Entryis designed to provide expedited clearance into the United States for "preapproved, low-risk travelers." The pilot "will continue for a minimum of six months," according to a DHS notice published 13 August in the Federal Register. CBP also expanded the program at New York JFK beyond Terminal 4 to include all terminals at the airport.
"This is an important expansion of our ability to expedite legitimate travel for low risk, international air travelers," said CBP Commissioner W. Ralph Basham.
Global Entry allows members to skip passport-processing queues by using dedicated kiosks at participating airports. Those kiosks read passports, scan fingerprints, verify the traveler's identity, capture a photograph, ask users to answer customs declaration questions using the touch-screen and produce receipts. Program members use those receipts to exit inspection areas.
C. Stewart Verdery Jr., founder of lobbying firm Monument Policy Group and the National Business Travel Association's government relations and federal strategies consultant, last month described Global Entry as "a big success story." Assessing U.S. border security programs, Verdery said, "We have turned a corner over the last 12 months."
NBTA last week applauded DHS's decision to expand Global Entry. The program "will give frequent business travelers a quick and secure means to enter the United States, ultimately helping to promote the flow of international commerce," according to a prepared statement from NBTA executive director Bill Connors. "We urge continued efforts to expand the program even further by launching it at international airports throughout the United States."
NBTA also urged the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate to finalize an appropriations bill approved by a House committee that would provide $10 million in funding to Global Entry.
CBP said the next steps for Global Entry, in addition to adding more airports, include connecting it with the domestic registered traveler programapplication process; expanding it to cover existing members of the Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection program (for border crossings from Mexico) and the Nexus program (for border crossings from Canada); integrating it with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Travel Card; and building reciprocal links to similar programs established by other countries.
For example, CBP in June reached an agreement with the United Kingdom to "develop a bilateral pilot program to facilitate travel between the two nations. The International Expedited Traveler Initiative will integrate CBP's Global Entry program with the British registered traveler program." The United States signed a similar agreement on 19 May with the Netherlands to link to the Dutch Privium program.
Related Resource: Global Entry program information