It seems that in the near future Airline staff will function as semi immigration officers, examining travelers’ visas even before arrival to the US. U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that 15,000 airline personnel have now been trained through its Carrier Liaison Program, with 5,665 carrier personnel trained in fiscal year 2008 alone.
CBP has developed a training program specifically for the air carriers which includes a detailed workbook and sample travel document which allows participants to examine dozens of common security features. Benefits include reduced numbers of improperly documented individuals boarding aircraft destined for the U.S., as well as assisting carriers to reduce costs and penalties associated with boarding impostors or improperly documented passengers.
I am curious to see what they will do when a visa fraud case is detected, will they be forced to report CBP and thus create a negative record for the individual. We will keep monitoring this process and report further.