As international travel grows, so does US use of technology. A look at how it's used at airports
«It was always a long row,» said Piet De Staercke of the line to go through passport screening. He, his wife and two sons were visiting Washington and Chicago. «We were a bit scared. But now with the app, it's amazing.»
As travel continues to boom following pandemic-related slumps, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is expanding the use of technology like the Mobile Passport Control app the De Staercke family used in an effort to process the ever-growing number of passengers traveling internationally. And with events like a rare solar eclipse, the Olympics in Paris, and summer holidays still driving international travel, those numbers don't look set to drop any time soon.
Customs and Border Protection officials gave The Associated Press a behind-the-scenes look at some of the technologies they've been using and what to expect in the months and years ahead.
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THE NUMBERS During fiscal year 2023, the agency processed over 394 million travelers at the ports of entry. That's a 24% increase over the previous year. When looking at the country's top 20 airports by passenger volume, officers processed 31% more travelers while average wait times increased 11%. And at some of the busiest airports, the wait times have had negligible increases or even decreased. At JFK Airport in New York, for example, wait times went down — by 0.4 of a second on average — while CBP officers processed 33% more travelers.
Increasingly, people are traveling internationally with
