“US citizens can opt out and request to be verified manually by showing their passport, and undergoing a visual face comparison. However, it seems this is being discouraged, with some travelers stating that officers told them they’d have to wait until everyone else boarded, in order to be able to do that.”

Whatever still worth it to decline. Boarding early is really not any kind of perk

This is going to be a “fixing your own pothole” situation. Sometimes, when your community is facing a deadly or costly threat, you need to take matters into your own hands to remove the threat.