Placebo365/iStock(NEW YORK) — Travelers are facing significant lines at airports across the country from what U.S. Customs and Border Protection is calling a “temporary outage” with its processing systems.
According to a CBP statement, the agency said it’s “taking immediate action to address the technology disruption.”
“CBP officers continue to process international travelers using alternative procedures until systems are back online,” the statement said. “Travelers at some ports of entry are experiencing longer than usual wait times and CBP officers are working to process travelers as quickly as possible while maintaining the highest levels of security.”
A government official says there’s no indication that this was a malicious attack on the network “at this time.” A CBP official said only airports were affected Friday afternoon, not other ports of entry.
“There is no indication of nefarious activity at this time,” a government official told ABC News.
The official added that “security-related” databases are still accessible and travelers are still screened.
Several airports have also tweeted about the disruption, including major hubs like LAX and JFK. Sea-Tac Airport in Seattle, LAX, and Dulles Airport in Virginia said systems were back online but CBP didn’t immediately confirm if this was the case nationwide.
Customers posted pictures and videos showing long lines waiting to be processed through customs.
#womenintech just arrived in the #USA for networking events and we’re all blocked at #customs pic.twitter.com/HGMvwUJqX3
— Women in Tech (@WomenInTechOrg) August 16, 2019
— Ninis Samuel (@TexNin) August 16, 2019
JFK Airport Customs. Great work #TSA #JFK pic.twitter.com/5sp1TAtCst
— Bradley Pierce (@BradPierce7) August 16, 2019
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