Reference: https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/tsa-precheck
So there are several trusted traveler programs the US government offers, mainly TSA Precheck, Global Entry, Nexus, and SENTRI.
- TSA Precheck is for airport security
- Global Entry is for US customs, and usually includes
- Nexus usually includes Global Entry and TSA Precheck along with expedited travel to Canada, but only includes Precheck if you are a US or Canadian citizen.
- SENTRI is designed for people traveling to and from Mexico.
Notice that issue regarding Nexus that it does not include TSA Precheck if you are not a US or Canadian citizen? This makes it impossible for someone not from the US and Canada to have expedited security and customs in Canada, while also having expedited security in the US.
This is ridiculous.
We have a few options to remedy this issue.
- Nexus should include TSA Precheck and Global Entry no matter what your nationality is.
- Make security good, making TSA Precheck worthless.
- Implement eGates for all nationalities not needing a visa to visit the United States, then abolish ESTA. This would negate all value of Global Entry. EGates would not be mandatory, there would still be the slow line which eGate eligible nationalities could choose to use… but why?
- Sign an open border treaty with Canada, negating the delays at the Canadian border. Nexus would then become far less important.
Or just do all 4 items so we don’t need to have trusted traveler programs any more. This won’t sacrifice security, but will make our airports a significantly better user experience.
Because the way the system is designed right now is uniquely absurd.