US immigration instructs installation of full body scanners at major US airports

United States, 17th May: The US immigration department has issued instructions for installation of full body scanners for airline passengers at some of the major US airports.

The latest step by the US immigration department, the US Department of Homeland Security, is being seen as a move to beef up aviation security in the nation although the step has stirred a lot of controversy over privacy.

The US immigration has instructed for getting full body scanning machines at 10 of busiest US airports this summer. Working of full body scanners is quite similar to that of X-rays which reveal images of people under their clothes.

William P Hobby Airport at Houston, 43rd busiest US airport is among the 10 US airports to get body scanners initially. In addition to 10 US airports currently getting body scanners, another 20 US airports will be covered under the plans of the US immigration department for increasing security at the airports in the country, Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security Secretary revealed Friday.

The Transport Security Administration released the list of the airports in the US to get full-body security machines this summer.

An official spokesperson for US Homeland Security said several different factors are being considered before installation of AIT units at US airports. These include capacity to ensure protection of passengers’ privacy, checkpoint infrastructure and airport readiness. 

Briefing about the recent increased security measures, Napolitano stated that deployment of advanced imaging technology at various US airports increases our ability to shield the airline passengers in the wake of evolving aviation security threats. 

Various screening devices will check passengers for any nonmetallic as well as metallic threats including explosives and weapons kept hidden beneath clothes or in body cavities. Full body scanners will be programmed with new security measures to find any evolving threat like liquid explosives.

It may be worth mentioning that recent images generated by the latest imaging technology devices have brought reassurances from TSA regarding the privacy of the airline passengers. The TSA stated that all X-ray images, which are blurred by the privacy filter, are deleted immediately and permanently once they are viewed by its screener.