Anyone been through YYZ recently - Whats the stsus of the INSpass machines ???

Jon

Wow. My first post. Just flew into Toronto Sunday night and back out Tuesday night. No delay either time. What an improvement.

They're certainly up and running at EWR-- I haven't seen any reports of the machines being off-line as a security measure, etc.

IAD is closed (2 weeks ago) and the immigration officer didn't expect them up again.

They are up and running at JFK. A talk with the Inspass office and they said to expect more machines and soon. A palm print is much more reliable then a human looking at a passport. I could see the machines even being used for positive ID purposes on domestic flights if things keep up the way they are going.

Works just fine at LAX-Bradley terminal as well.

SFO has no more working INSPASS machines. The agents don't expect them to be up and running again. This is as of 10/2.

Working in the United and Bradley terminals at LAX two weeks ago. Still issuing cards at the INSPass office at LAX (lower level, Bradley terminal).

Most INS agents don't like the machines. They see them as a way to eliminate jobs.

Given they way things have gone with bank tellers, their fear may be well founded.

went through YYZ on 10/14 and 10/17 INSPass was working (although no one was using it at the time).

This may be the case for some. However, I spoke with an immagrations guy who felt down the road, they will remove the machines and put a plam reader at each check through station. This will allow the agent to verify your palm print and also look through your passport to see where you have been. This is a problem at the moment with the machines. If you have been to somewhere you should not have been, or a place that should put you on a watch list, the machine would never know. Besides, for safety, the palm print is best, you cant fake a plam print, passports can be forges, after NY, we all know this is the case.

Are they going to get a palm print of eveyone who has a passport? This doesn't seem workable as only major cities have passport offices.

Getting an INSPass card is reasonably difficult if you aren't a US Citizen (I have Canadian friends that have them). Even before 9/11 they do a background check and won't issue them to anyone who remotely looks like a security risk.

If you're not on the "watch list" and you've been "someplace you shouldn't" there's nothing to stop you from telling the agent that "you've been on holiday". I can't imagine that a terrorist is going to tell Joe INS agent: "I've been to Syria, Iraq, Lybia, and Iran on this trip."

If you are on the "watch list" the machine will stop you. They have your passport number and your palm print. It seems to me like the machine will be *more* effective of stopping you "if you've been someplace you shouldn't have been".


[This message has been edited by skofarrell (edited 10-20-2001).]

Excuse me, but before 9/11 it took only 10 minutes to apply for INSPASS and receive one at LAX INSPASS office. Renewal also took 10 minues flat. (I'm a non-US citizen.)
I don't think the agent did any background check other than just scanning my passport and looking up INS records.

This is very true. And they don't take a complete set of finger-prints that would be needed to facilitate a complete background check. Even the palm thing-- it's not a "palm-print"-- it's a hand geometry, which is effective, but doesn't give them anything to run through NCIC, etc.

Plus, I'm not sure it's accurate to say they were looking for "security risks" during this process (pre-9/11)-- I don't think they were doing any profiling whatsoever (and I'm not using "profiling" in a pejorative sense,) during the "interview" for INSpass

I don't even remember them checking my passport stamps during the process-- but I bet they do now.

What I'm trying to say is the check they do for an INSPass isn't any more or less than what the agent does when he scans your passport.

Background checks are performed (the guy who took my application told me this), but I do not know if they are done on a random basis or more extensivley for non-us citizens.