Last week, the Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement held a hearing to review the progress and challenges in implementing non-intrusive inspection (NII) technology at U.S. ports of entry. Chairman Michael Guest (R-MS) led the session, which focused on how U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is deploying this technology to detect narcotics, contraband, currency, and smuggled individuals.
Witnesses included Diane Sabatino, acting executive assistant commissioner at CBP’s Office of Field Operations, and Hilary Benedict, director of Science, Technology Assessments, and Analytics at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Chairman Guest discussed the shortfall in achieving mandated scan rates for vehicles entering the country:
“CBP was tasked to develop a plan to reach a 100 percent high-throughput NII scan rate at land ports of entry by 2027. As of Fiscal Year 2024, CBP fell short of that goal, using NII to examine approximately only 8 percent of passenger vehicles and 27 percent of commercial vehicles. These low scan rates can be attributed partially to poor planning and mismanagement from acquisition to installation and the deployment of the NII equipment.”
“NII program leaders have assured oversight bodies that they have made changes to their structure, staffing, management, and standards to ensure scan rates reflect the amount of taxpayer dollars that the program has received.”
“Ultimately, regardless of the prior shortcomings in the NII program, the capabilities NII affords to our front-line officers keeping our ports secure are invaluable. We must continue to invest responsibly in this technology as we see that this technology has a proven track record in facilitating CBP’s ability to protect and prevent smuggling into our country.”
“Additionally, having just entered a year with record low illegal border crossings, CBP has the opportunity to invest resources in developing and the — the deployment of security measures along our border…I am cautiously optimistic that prudent decisions from NII leadership within CBP, oversight from Congress, and technological advances in industry will allow CBP to achieve 100 percent scanning rates.”
Acting Executive Assistant Commissioner Sabatino addressed logistical issues related to placing new inspection systems:
“While NII technology is a proven and powerful tool, deploying these systems is not without challenges. Constraints related to port infrastructure, real estate availability, and the need to avoid interference with other detection systems can be limiting as to where and how the systems are placed.
“To address these challenges, we’re continually reevaluating port facilities, exploring opportunities for alternative placement of the systems, and prioritizing deployments in areas with the greatest operational impact.”
“With funding provided by Congress, we plan to deploy 38 additional systems by the end of this fiscal year. These drive-through systems will allow us to scan 40 percent of privately-owned vehicles and up to 70 percent of commercial vehicles at the southwest border land ports of entry, significantly enhancing our ability to detect and interdict threats.”
Director Benedict outlined three main obstacles preventing full implementation: incomplete coverage across all land ports due to unresolved space constraints; higher-than-expected costs for system deployment; and delays that have extended timelines beyond initial projections.
“The first issue is planning. CBP’s scanning plan does not include all land ports of entry. Specifically, the plan does not include nine southwest border crossings… CBP officials said these sites are not included in the current plans because they are still determining how to overcome space issues at these sites. The second issue that has prevented CBP from meeting the scanning requirement is cost. CBP developed cost estimates for deploying systems, but costs have exceeded those estimates. The third issue that has prevented CBP from meeting the scanning requirement is the schedule. Deployment of non-intrusive inspection systems has taken longer than expected.”
During questioning about Congressional support beyond funding alone for Department of Homeland Security missions involving this technology,Sabatino responded:
“I think continuing to support our work with the vendors to identify additional or enhanced or emerging technology–– we’re very optimistic about some tests that are going on now. Working with the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Office to address the radiation portal monitor interference at a place like San Ysidro, that would significantly increase the scan rates being the largest border crossing for vehicles on the southwest border. I think certainly continuing to engage with us you know with our needs with respect to addressing the civil works and funding––and very much appreciate the funding that was available to us in the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act.’”
Rep. Sheri Biggs (R-SC) raised questions about new technologies complementing existing tools:
“Smugglers often go through ports of entry. Commercial containers and personal vehicles alike are modified to have spaces to hide illicit cargo such as cocaine and fentanyl... Full implementation of the newest and best non-intrusive inspection technology across all ports of entry will save time and lives by catching more illicit drugs... So my question is... What new and novel technologies is the CBP innovation team investigating... And how will these new technologies complement the existing fleet?”
Sabatino replied:
“There’s a number of emerging technologies that we are looking at. I think certainly in complement to image scans,the artificial intelligence machine learning that’s going help identify anomalies.We have a number algorithms deployed along southwest border today...that we hope will be able actually peel back resources as...algorithms will help officers streamline identifying those anomalies.”
