airports
© Mario Tama/Getty ImagesA CBP spokesperson has confirmed that the agency's computer systems are down at several airports.
Several major airports across the United States are reporting outages of Customs and Border Protection's computer systems used to process airline passengers, raising the specter of a nationwide outage.

JFK International Airport tweeted this afternoon that its agents were processing passengers more slowly because, "Customs systems are down right now nationwide."

Los Angeles International Airport also announced via Twitter that its CBP systems were experiencing an issue that appeared to be impacting several airports.

This evening, NBC News also tweeted that the problem is occurring at Washington Dulles International Airport as well.

"Officers are processing passengers manually so please check with your airline for the latest status of any flight impacts," LAX wrote.

A CBP spokesperson has confirmed that the agency's computer systems are down at several airports, a situation that was creating long lines for many travelers on Friday evening.

CBP is experiencing a "temporary outage with its processing systems at various air ports of entry and is taking immediate action to address the technology disruption," the spokesperson wrote in an email to POLITICO.

"CBP officers continue to process international travelers using alternative procedures until systems are back online," the statement continued.

Washington Dulles International, JFK International, and Los Angeles International are among the airports where processing of international travelers has slowed since the outage began this afternoon. LAX said its agents were processing passengers manually and that it also was deploying its team of "guest experience members" to help at Customs areas.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport indicated that Customs systems are back up there, and backlogged passengers are being processed.

CBP said its agents would work to process travelers as quickly as possible while maintaining "the highest levels of security."