New facial recognition technology has identified three immigration cheats at one of America's busiest airports - in just forty days. The trio - who travelled separately during August and September - were intercepted at Washington's Dulles International Airport, which processes more than 21 million people per year. According to a statement by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, they were each flagged-up by new software which scans minute differences between the person seeking entry and their passport photo. Impressively, mismatches are identified in as little as two seconds. Most recently, on Monday, a woman arriving on a flight from Accra, Ghana, presented a U.S. passport with a suspect image.

As facial recognition technology use generates intense scrutiny, a new system unveiled at Washington's Dulles airport is being touted as a "user friendly" way to help ease congestion for air travelers. Officials at Dulles unveiled two new face recognition systems Thursday, one to meet legal requirements for biometric entry-exit records, and a second to help speed processing of travelers arriving on international flights by matching their real-time images with stored photos. The growing use of facial recognition has ignited debate over surveillance and privacy around the world, but officials told media this system was a way to help reducing annoying lines and wait times without compromising security. "The technology works," US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan told reporters at an airport unveiling. And we believe it will change the face of international travel."