Securing U.S. BordersSecuring U.S. Borders

Three teams of vendors will compete for a $10 billion Department of Homeland Security contract to expand a program that includes digital finger scans, digital pictures, and document reviews of foreign travelers. The government plans to extend the U.S. Visitor and Immigration Status Indicator Technology program--now being tested at 115 airports and 14 ship terminals--to all points of entry and exit throughout the United States. The agency plans to award the contract by May, a Homeland Security spokesman says.

Computer Sciences Corp. has formed an alliance to bid on the contract that includes Anteon International, Bechtel, EDS, and General Dynamics. It will compete against a team led by Accenture that includes Dell and Raytheon. A team led by Lockheed Martin includes Booz Allen Hamilton, Harris, and IBM.

An agency spokesman says it will choose a team that can deploy biometric identification technologies and merge information from numerous law-enforcement databases to identify possible terrorists and criminals.