The long wait to get an express border crossing Sentri pass has dropped dramatically during the last year. However, Customs and Border Protection officials may be using shortcuts. KPBS Reporter Amy Isackson has details.
The average wait to get a Sentri pass was about six to eight months before the enrollment process was shifted to the internet last year. Now, it takes about three to four weeks.
Assistant Port Director Bruce Ward says manually entering applicants' data was one of the biggest delays. Users now enter their own information online. Ward says also…
Ward: It used to be that your first visit that you came in we would submit the fingerprints. That was one of the things that was taking us the longest back then was to get clearance from the fingerprints.
Ward says now applicants give their prints and get their passes during the same visit. Customs officials say they're generally able to check prints in five minutes. But when they can't, they say they issue the sentry pass anyway and revoke it later if the prints reveal criminal, immigration or other violations.
Customs officials say they check records in addition to fingerprints to assure Sentri recipients are low risk. Customs officials say they do not track how many passes they deactivate.
Amy Isackson, KPBS News.
