Chat with Kenix Wang Biofaketrics
Newly appointed VP Cargo WFS, JFK Airport
20 AIRPORT VOICE, MARCH 2019
On January 19, 2019, a 26-yearold
woman traveling from Mexico
City, Mexico presented herself for
inspection, with a United States
passport, to a Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) offi cer. The CBP
offi cer suspected the subject may be
an imposter to the travel document so
he escorted the passenger to another
area for further inspection. The CBP
offi cer utilized a new technology
which uses facial recognition to
determine if the passenger was,
in fact, the true bearer of the U.S.
passport. Based on the results of
the facial recognition and the CBP
offi cer’s interview, the traveler was
determined to be an imposter to the
U.S. passport.
Using another person’s identity
document is a serious violation of
U.S. immigration laws that could
result in criminal prosecution. In
this case, the traveler was found to be
inadmissible to the United States and
was returned to her country of origin
on the next available fl ight.
“CBP has many tools at our
disposal in our collective tool bag, but
this case illustrates the value of the
CBP offi cer on the ground,” said Troy
Miller, CBP’s Director of the New
York Field Offi ce. “This traveler was
apprehended utilizing CBP’s layered
enforcement strategy and technology
coupled with the CBP offi cer’s
expertise. This force multiplier is
essential in apprehending those
persons that would look to break our
immigration laws and perhaps cause
harm to the citizens of the United
States.”
While providing a level of
convenience for the traveler, facial
recognition helps CBP swiftly
identify imposters. CBP’s primary
mission is to protect the United States
from potential threats and the facial
comparison biometrics system is one
part of CBP’s strategy to deploy the
best technology available to protect
the American people.
Additional details about CBP’s
biometric entry/exit program are
available at www.CBP.gov
BY JEFF YAPALATER
Congratulations to Kenix on his
appointment. We caught up and had a
chance to fi nd out a bit about his life
and love of cargo.
You can see Kenix’s photo in our
Airport Faces section.
Q: How did you get into the airport
business?
I started in the airline industrial
while seeking for a part-time job in
2003 when I began as an entry level
offi ce agent with Swissport Cargo
Services. I was soon engaged as my
career in cargo industrial.
Q: How does WFS differentiate
itself from other ground handlers?
WFS has grown it’s strength
in cargo industrial along with its
dedicated management team in JFK
where our team reacts to challenges
rapidly and resolving issues with
our best available resources. Like all
service handlers in JFK, we are limited
by staff resources and encountered
LWO impact. We have to be creative
to ensure we run our operations
effi ciently and effectively.
Q: Does the worldwide presence
of WFS give it an advantage over
competitors?
As the largest cargo handler globally,
our global presence and support is our
backbone. We are supported by our
North America headquarters located
right in JFK airport as well as our
Global Headquarters in Paris. We have
all the resources from our WFS Global
executives team sharing knowledge
and expertise in every department –
share experiences and knowledge’s.
Q: What will WFS do in the near
future to improve freight handling at
JFK?
We are streamlining our process
and staffi ng alignment to provide
effi ciency and bringing technology into
our JFK cargo to assist in optimization
and customer communications.
Q: What will the new building do
for the cargo community at JFK?
Our new building development
B260 will be our opportunity to better
serve our JFK community. We have
the opportunity to develop an “up to
date” handling facility – the cargo
facility built to our needs as an handler
providing suffi cient truck queue,
loading dock, waiting area - to better
service our trucking customers.
FAKE IDS ARE COMMONLY INTERCEPTED
BY USPS AND CBP.
/www.CBP.gov
/www.CBP.gov