Let’s keep it 100: government tech is almost always a hot mess, and the European Union’s brand-new digital border system is proving that point in real-time. Up in Rome, the people running the airports are looking at the EU’s new biometric Entry-Exit System (EES) and basically saying, "Yeah, we’re not doing this." They’re threatening to bypass the whole system this summer just to stop the airports from turning into complete zoos.

The head honcho of Aeroporti di Roma, Marco Troncone, came out and admitted that if they don't "open up the valve" and let people skip the biometric checks, the summer travel season is going to be an absolute disaster. The man rated his anxiety level an eight or nine out of ten. He knows damn well that his staff cannot handle the massive waves of tourists while trying to force everyone to scan their fingerprints and faces.

This new EES thing is supposed to track every non-EU citizen—including British travelers—entering the bloc by grabbing their biometric data the first time they cross the border. But the tech has been buggy since day one. The system was delayed forever, finally launched in mid-April, and has been lagging ever since. Now, regular folks are missing flights and getting stuck in lines that feel like they never end.

The airline industry group IATA is already putting out warnings that wait times have hit three and a half hours, and they could easily balloon to six hours when the summer rush really hits. Think about that: sitting in an airport terminal for six hours just to scan your face. That’s not security; that’s a straight-up hostage situation for everyday travelers who just want to get to their destination.

What makes it even crazier is that the system is so broken it doesn't even recognize people who already registered. If you already did the scan on a past trip, you’re supposed to slide right through. Instead, the buggy system forces people to do the whole process all over again. It’s a vicious cycle of bureaucratic incompetence that is stressing out both the travelers and the workers on the floor.

Stefan Schulte, the head of the European airports trade group ACI Europe, kept it real when he told the politicians to stop acting like everything is sweet. He basically said they need to stop pretending this system is working, because it’s clearly not, and it’s up to the actual governments to step up and suspend it before things get completely out of hand.

We’re already seeing different spots across Europe panic and pull the plug. Back in May, the French police had to stop doing the biometric checks at the Port of Dover because the traffic jams were getting legendary. Over in Greece, they had to snatch back a promise to let UK travelers slide without biometric checks until September. Nobody is on the same page, and the everyday traveler is the one paying the price.