IMMIGRATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “After years of delay, the federal government says it has developed a way to reliably track foreigners when they depart the U.S., at least by airplane, and plans to install cameras that would photograph all passengers just before they board international flights.
But there’s a big hitch: The government wants airlines to operate the cameras, saying the cost would be ‘astronomical’ if border agents had to staff every international departure gate. Airline officials argue this is a national security function that should be shouldered by the government, not private companies.
‘Right now, there is no benefit to us. We’re not interested in adding another 10 minutes to the boarding process,’ one airline official said.
Disputes such as this one help explain why it has taken more than two decades for the federal government to create a system to track and eventually catch people who enter the U.S. legally and then stay past their dates of departure. Congress has repeatedly ordered an exit-tracking system, and President Donald Trump included a fresh mandate to get the system running in an executive order.”
-Laura Meckler and Susan Carey, “How a Dispute Over Costs Threatens Plan to Track Foreigners,” The Wall Street Journal online, June 19, 2017 5:30am