US Intends to Expand Passenger Inspections to 10 New Foreign Airports

The United States will negotiate sending its customs and border protection officers to 10 new foreign airports to conduct inspections of passengers heading to the United States, US Department of Homeland (DHS) Security said in a statement.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States already has more than 600 law enforcement officers stationed at 15 international airports abroad, including in Ireland, Canada and United Arab Emirates.

“Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson announced today the United States intends to enter into negotiations to expand air preclearance operations to ten new foreign airports,” the statement said on Friday.

If negotiations are successful, airports in Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom will allow US officers to conduct immigration, customs, and agriculture inspection of travelers boarding direct flights to the United States.

The DHS said in the statement that preclearance helps to stop potential threats before they arrive on US soil.

“I want to take every opportunity we have to push our homeland security out beyond our borders so that we are not defending the homeland from the one-yard line,” Johnson stressed in the statement.

Earlier on Friday, Johnson said the DHS is planning to unveil a new passenger data screening system within the next 12 months that can be used by international commercial and government organizations to identify terrorists trying to cross international borders.