BITMAP bill advances House committee

The House Homeland Security Committee has advanced the Biometric Identification Migration Alert Program (BITMAP) Authorization Act of 2018 to help better identify national security threats.

The legislation was introduced by Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) and was co-sponsored by Rep. Bill Keating (D-MA).

“As terror threats evolve over time, our adversaries become more agile, desperate to avoid detection and sneak into our country,” McCaul said. “One of the ways they try to come here is through the exploitation of illicit pathways in South and Central America. To combat this threat, we must leverage our international partnerships and use the most advanced technology to our advantage.”

BITMAP is a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Homeland Security Investigations (ICE/HSI)-led program established in 2011 under Obama Administration, enabling partner-country law enforcement officers to collect and share biometric and biographic data on special interest individuals to identify potential threat actors.

McCaul said the BITMAP program shares valuable data from law enforcement officers in participating countries with U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies, noting the bill would help stop individuals who want to bring harm to the American people from entering the country.

“The BITMAP program has proven extremely useful in increasing our capacity for information sharing and developing comprehensive strategies with our international partners to intercept known or suspected terrorists and criminals before they reach our borders,” Keating said. “It is keeping Americans safer. This is another way members of the Committee are working together to thwart those who wish to do us all harm.”