WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security will begin using an Interpol database of stolen passports to screen foreign travelers later this year and is exploring whether to set up a unit at Interpol headquarters in Lyon, France, that would investigate any stolen documents the screeners turn up, officials said Saturday.
DHS expects to launch a 30-day pilot of the screening system at one U.S. airport by fall and, if it is successful, will expand the program nationwide immediately thereafter, department officials said.
After a meeting with DHS Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson, Interpol Secretary General Robert Noble said Friday that he also asked U.S. officials to consider encouraging other nations to support a port and border security unit to follow up on reports of stolen passports.
“I was pleasantly surprised by the apparent enthusiasm in DHS for integrating this system as soon as possible,” said Noble, who has advocated use of the database for six years. “I didn’t feel such enthusiasm before and I hope we’ll get it done.”
Security officials have long regarded stolen travel documents as a virtual weapon in the hands of potential terrorists. They are particularly worried about the theft of blank passports that can be used to produce counterfeit versions and enable terrorists to cross international frontiers without scrutiny.
U.S. officials express particular concern about passports stolen from 27 friendly countries that participate in a program under which travelers can visit the United States without visas.
At a hearing last week, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., called the visa waiver program “the soft underbelly of this nation,” adding that the predominance of stolen passports and sloppy administration of the program “places this nation in serious jeopardy.”
Since 2001, Interpol has amassed a database of 6.7 million lost or stolen passports, including 2.8 million from visa waiver countries.
In a test of 1.9 million passport records collected over 16 days by U.S. border officials in April, DHS personnel discovered 273 stolen documents using the Interpol data. Analysts cleared 219 cases, but 64 remained unresolved, a senior U.S. homeland security official said.
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