By Courtney Macavinta

Feb. 1, 2007—After the horror of 9/11, many people in the United States and around the world wanted to know: How did the terrorists slip past U.S. border controls? And how can the U.S. government keep terrorists—and their tools of destruction—out in the future? Worst-case scenarios loomed. What if terrorists were able to create new, more effective terrorist cells on U.S. soil? And what if they could use the global supply chain to sneak weapons of mass destruction into a major city with potentially devastating effects?

These concerns aren't far-fetched. The task of identifying who and what is entering the United States is daunting. Each year, roughly 23 million U.S. citizens travel back and forth between the United States and the bordering countries of Mexico and Canada; 15 million people visit the United States under the Visa Waiver Program; and millions more enter the country with a visa or to establish legal residency. And some 7 million containers pass through U.S. ports each year.

RFID and security experts alike say global cooperation is needed to truly improve border controls around the world.

Better screening and tracking of the people and cargo that move in and out of the United States each day has become a cornerstone of the post-9/11 security strategy. In addition to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a plethora of bills have been passed and initiatives spearheaded to ratchet up security—from the controversial Patriot Act to the Real ID Act, Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, Secure Freight Initiative, SAFE Port Act, Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, Homeland Security Act and Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism. Their aim, simply, is to keep terrorists and their weapons out and everyone else safe.