How the global tech outage is impacting border security

DEL RIO, Texas (NewsNation) — The CrowdStrike outage has impacted all Customs and Border Patrol laptops and workstations, along with system applications, according to the federal agency.

While some traffic was moving Friday afternoon at the Del Rio port, the website that offers updates on wait times was down as of 1:05 p.m. local time.

Some travelers trying to cross the El Paso sector have reported wait times of three to four hours. It usually takes only 45 to 70 minutes.

An average of 35,000 people a day come through the El Paso port, on foot and by vehicle.

As the outage continues, the federal government is surging resources to El Paso as worries persist of traffic heading into Arizona and California.

And it’s not just at the southern border.

The Peace Bridge in Buffalo, New York was also dealing with backups.

The Department of Homeland Security issued the following statement to NewsNation:

“Our committee is closely following the developments of today’s global IT outage including the border security implications. Disruptions at our ports of entry could present a serious vulnerability and we must learn how to prevent an incident like this from happening again.”

Source link