You’ve probably noticed that the world is in a state of turmoil in the tragic aftermath of ISIS’s violent attacks on France last week, just weeks after ISIS detonated a bomb on a Russian plane departing Egypt that killed all 224 people on board.
As French, Russian, and Egyptian officials begin to pick up the pieces, the rest of the world must decide how to proceed.
The world’s fear and anger is evident (especially across social media), as we all debate over the most effective (and secure) course of action.
Is it lawful to engage in military action against ISIS?
Does this situation warrant the collective defense in Article 5 of NATO?
How should other countries prepare for a potential attack from ISIS?
I’ve watched my fellow Americans clash over the moral obligation to accept refugees versus the fact that it was among those refugees that ISIS members were able to conceal their identities and therefore commit atrocious crimes upon the French people.
As a first-generation American myself, I would like to remind my fellow citizens of one of our nation’s greatest and most recognizable icons: the Statue of Liberty.
Lady Liberty has lived on Ellis Island since 1886, shadowing more than 12 million immigrants as they entered our country and reminding them that they were welcome here.
Odds are your ancestors were among those 12 million, or the millions before and after them who arrived at our shores hoping for a new beginning.
Although Ellis Island is no longer an immigration station, the Statue of Liberty endures not only as a symbol of the lasting friendship between France and the United States but also as a beacon of freedom and democracy — of open arms and aiding our fellow man.
Emma Lazarus’ poem, “The New Colossus,” which was originally used as a fundraising tool for Lady Liberty, now rests engraved on a plaque next to our statue:
… Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
That “world-wide welcome” has been at the core of American identity since our country’s beginning.
The poem is a promise that the United States will not be like nations before it — we will not close our doors, we will not cling to an ancient, futile identity. We will be different from nations that existed before us. The United States will accept those who have been exiled, and from those people, we will create a diverse and dynamic population.
I look fondly to this poem when I think of my own family’s emigration from Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). My mother speaks often about her fears during her emigration, about how difficult it was to leave her homeland, about how she struggled to adjust to American life. But she also speaks about the optimism of starting over — of feeling secure and being able to rebuild.
When we visited Lady Liberty just a few years ago, my mom made a point to thank her.
However, my family’s gratitude and immigrant status does not leave us immune to fear. Although they are not American by birth, they are American by identity, and we too call this country “home.”
With that, a government’s first and primary responsibility is to protect those people within its borders.
At the G20 summit in Turkey on Monday, President Obama clearly states:
“… all of our countries have to ensure our security. And as President, my first priority is the safety of the American people. And that’s why, even as we accept more refugees — including Syrians — we do so only after subjecting them to rigorous screening and security checks.”
And here, folks, is the crux of the argument.
We do not need to decide between leaving the door wide open and slamming it in the face of victims of terror.
There is a middle ground, a third option.
I would like to bring your attention to the growing industry of biometric security and why this form of advanced security is essential to our safety.
Just four days ago, a 67-year-old retired long-distance trucker named Blake Alford accidentally brought his fully loaded Ruger .380 semi-automatic pistol onto a crowded flight from Atlanta to Chicago.
Alford didn’t realize the firearm was in his possession until he was unpacking in his Chicago hotel room, and he immediately contacted TSA officials.
Alford states, “I’m a law abiding citizen, but what if I was someone with terrorist motives? I have a carry permit — but not for carrying on airplanes.”
Read more about this story here.
Can we even be surprised that Alford’s firearm went undetected? In a series of 70 security trials earlier this year, undercover agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were able to smuggle fake explosives, weapons, and contraband past TSA screeners… 67 times.
To put it another way, TSA failed 95% of security tests.
This statistic, combined with recent terrorist attacks, calls for a complete overhaul of American security strategies.
In the face of this growing necessity, be on the lookout for companies like M2SYS and Aware, Inc. (NASDAQ: AWRE) that specialize in software for advanced biometric security technology.
Biometric security is a method of identifying an individual based on distinct features: biological, anatomical, physiological, behavioral.
Think about the physical features that are unique to you. It’s not just our fingerprints or faces but also our voices, earlobes, hand geometry, and others.
The U.S. has been using biometrics since 9/11, after the government realized that we had minimal knowledge of who was crossing into our borders.
The Department of Homeland Security has spent over $133 billion on biometrics since 2003. Between 2007 and 2015, the Department of Defense has spent an estimated $3.5 billion on the technology.
Privacy concerns abound, but that debate is for another day.
In a report from the DHS earlier this year, the Department admits, “Currently the DHS and the Intelligence community (IC) lack an integrated, interagency biometric system capability to support biometric and identity intelligence analytical tasks using unclassified and classified biometric data sources.”
Basically, it has been impossible for various security and intelligence departments to share information. The CIA uses different technology than the FBI, DHS, NSA, etc. On an international scale, the disconnect is even worse.
This needs to be streamlined. Communication within the U.S. and among our allies is crucial.
Later in his speech at the G20 summit, Obama committed to streamlining the global intelligence community so that information can be shared and therefore used more effectively.
Citizens and investors across the globe must prepare for the expansion of biometric security — it will not be long before biometrics becomes the accepted standard for security and identification measures.
Estimates from before the events in France expected the biometrics industry to double within the next four years — from $555 million to $1.04 billion.
The recent attacks and increasing threats from ISIS should have investors expecting that market to increase even further. The market growth is driven by other security concerns as well, among them the health care and financial industries and growing cases of identity theft.
Current estimates forecast the biometrics market to reach $44 billion by 2021.
Again, all signs point to biometrics as the upcoming security standard.
Current strategies will clearly not suffice in the face of today’s threats. Biometric technology is the answer to many of the questions circulating throughout the United States as we begin to tackle those threats.
Biometrics will allow for amplified security without ignoring the most basic principles of this country’s identity.
I’ll leave you with this information, but also a reminder:
It is imperative that we find a strategy that assures our safety, but one that does not also force us to abandon the very ethics from which this country was born.
“We also have to remember that many of these refugees are the victims of terrorism themselves — that’s what they’re fleeing. Slamming the door in their faces would be a betrayal of our values. Our nations can welcome refugees who are desperately seeking safety and ensure our own security.
We can and must do both.”
—President Barack Obama
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