St. Maarten’s Princess Juliana International Airport could get U.S. Customs and Border Protection border preclearance, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The DHS said Princess Juliana was one of 11 international airports identified for possible preclearance locations.
If preclearance were expanded to St. Maarten, it would mean travelers would undergo immigration, customs and agriculture inspection by U.S. Customs and Border Protection before boarding a flight to the U.S.
Travelers are then received in their final destination as if they are arriving on a domestic flight.
“Expanding Preclearance operations has been a priority of mine as Secretary. Preclearance allows DHS to screen individuals prior to boarding a flight, which means we are able to identify threats long before they arrive in the United States,” said U.S. Homeland Secretary Jeh Johnson. “I look forward to the opportunity to grow our Preclearance operations in the Western Hemisphere.”
The U.S. said that selected countries may, upon appropriate authorizations, begin negotiations which could result in a preclearance agreement.
“Preclearance has proven to be a valuable tool for CBP, foreign airports, the aviation industry, and most importantly, the traveler, who benefits from shorter wait times,” said CBP Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske. “CBP precleared more travelers than ever before last year, 18 million, accounting for about 15.3 percent of all commercial air travel to the United States. Not only were those millions of travelers able to immediately leave the airport or directly head to their connecting flight upon landing in the United States, but that’s 18 million fewer people waiting in line for CBP officers to process at the Nation’s busiest airports.”
The U.S. currently operates preclearance facilities at Caribbean airports including Nassau, Freeport and Aruba. Punta Cana will be next.