Top 10 illegal items seen at the CBP "This is the first step," said a retired Border Patrol agent. "They're all illegal aliens." The agents are still required to interview everyone about their citizenship, but that can now take seconds instead of minutes or hours, the agents said. And more agents will start using the new system soon. The Border Patrol has always had a system in place that would check people against a database. But the new electronic system runs on a computer database system called Oracle. With the system, officers run the same information that has been already entered about each person through CBP databases. That system — which will get an even wider use in the coming months — works with a handheld device that an officer can take in to a room where people are being held, or where they are being interrogated as they arrive at the border. Agents in those areas scan their thumbprint and answer a series of questions on the device. A picture is taken of the person, and then a green light turns on. The officer pulls the finger off the device and the computer in the room matches it with the digital image. Within seconds, the results are on the officer's screen: They are legal or illegal. "It has taken the guesswork out of it," said a Border Patrol agent in southern California. 'I believe that the numbers that they're throwing around are very inaccurate,' a border veteran said. 'I think that this technology is definitely going to cut down the amount of people who slip through' The Border Patrol agent in the San Diego sector said that the new system has also reduced overtime pay and the need for additional manpower — one of the complaints about the agency. The CBP is also testing new security technology at various border crossings and ports of entry in San Diego County. One device uses thermal imaging to reveal whether someone has crossed into the U.S. illegally. The device — which can track people as far as three miles away — is mounted on a Border Patrol truck. The officer in the truck uses a laser, much like a driver uses to aim a car, to send a beam at the ground to measure heat signatures. The device, which is about the size of a DVD player, can detect someone's heat when they get up to 20 feet away. The thermal imaging device can only be used at night when there is good weather, but it still helps border agents find illegal crossers, officials said. The system does not allow for video surveillance, but is primarily used by agents as they patrol. At the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in southern California, officers are testing a second device that helps them better manage the flow of traffic at the large border crossing. When someone tries to cross the border illegally, officers use a digital camera to capture a license plate number and other information. If the system flags a person as a frequent violator, an officer has the opportunity to check a database to see whether the person has ever been caught before crossing the border illegally or illegally re-entered the U.S. The same technology can be used at land, sea or air ports of entry — anywhere on the border. "I believe that the numbers that they're throwing around are very inaccurate," the agent said. "I think that this technology is definitely going to cut down the amount of people who slip through." The Border Patrol has already begun using one of the newest technologies on the border — a video camera system that is the latest in technology used on aircraft to help the military track an enemy's movements. This video camera system, which was launched in June in one sector in southern Arizona, is installed at various points along the border where agents can manually move the video camera up or down to see what's going on in a given area. When someone tries to cross illegally, the system can pick up people and objects that would otherwise be invisible to the human eye. That information is beamed up to an agent's patrol vehicle to give the agent a better view of what's going on. The system cost about $7 million, with the rest of the project paid for with Homeland Security grants. The border agents who tested the device said that it is helpful in managing the flow of traffic at the border. "Our whole point is to stop traffic," the agent said. "The technology doesn't tell you when to stop the traffic, but when you see the technology in use it gives you the idea of being able to slow down the speed of the flow of traffic. So, in effect, it's slowing you down because you're not finding anyone illegally." By that, the agent meant that the technology is helping agents get a better look at the real number of people entering illegally. The agent also said that border crime — and perhaps crime along the entire border — is actually dropping, which suggests that the number of people trying to cross illegally into the U.S. illegally may be going down. "The number of apprehensions have gone down a good bit," the agent said. "I believe that the number of people who are coming in is down. Whether you believe that or not, I don't know, but we're not really finding anybody anymore." This story was originally published on huffingtonpost.com. It is reprinted here with permission. This article was originally published on May 11, 2009, at 4:36 a.m. EST.