Customs Systems Down At Houston, Other Airports

HOUSTON, TX — Officials at George Bush International Airport say there is a back up with processing arriving international passengers on Friday due to a nationwide customs outage.

Anyone departing from the airport is not affected. As a precaution, passengers should check flight status with their airline.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection's computerized systems at the nation's airports went down Friday afternoon, causing major delays at airports for international travelers trying to enter the United States. The outage occurred during a peak travel time.

The agency said in a statement the processing systems outage is temporary at various of ports of entry and it is "taking immediate action to address the technology disruption."

"CBP officers continue to process international travelers using alternative procedures until systems are back online," the agency said, noting its officers are "working to process travelers as quickly as possible while maintaining the highest levels of security"

With additional reporting and writing by Beth Dalbey.