While we are talking about U.S border security.
I have been flying regularly to the USA as flight crew for twenty years or so. Pre 911 we used to get through immigration pretty quickly. Nowadays we are sometimes the last people to leave the hall.
Each time I go in now I have to have my right thumb fingerprint checked, then my right 4 fingers. Then they do the same thing on my left hand (in case I might have sneakily swapped my left hand for somebody else's?)Woe betide me if even a single fingerprint fails to register on their reader by the second attempt. This means 15 minutes in a side room.
Having positively identified me by my fingerprints they still have to visually check my passport and visa (even though they have all the details on their computer) and take a photo of me (which looks very much like the one they took of me two weeks before).
For crew passing in and out regularly an iris scan would be all that should be necessary. What happens to U.S pilots returning home? Is it a much simpler process?
I'm not knocking America. I love the place but it could be so much simpler.