Gregg Finds Flaws in the U.S.-VISIT Program
WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 – The United States needs a better exit strategy for foreign visitors, Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., said at a subcommittee hearing Wednesday.
Gregg cited the inability to chart the exit of non-citizens from the country as one of the shortcomings of the current system, called the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology Program.
“This truly is the backbone of our capacity to determine who’s coming into the country and whether they are going to cause us harm, and if they’re coming in illegally, then it is a critical feature of infrastructure,” said Gregg, who is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security.
The program requires that all non-citizens traveling to the United States be processed through the Department of Homeland Security. For air or sea travel, this process requires that biometrics, including digital photographs, and finger scans, be taken when travelers apply for a visa and again when they arrive in the United States.
For land travel, biometrics are taken of any non-Mexicans and non-Canadians crossing the border at U.S. points of entry. Entry procedures have been implemented at most land borders and international airports and seaports, but exit procedures are in place at only 12 airports and two seaports.
Although entry procedures are in place in both Manchester and Portsmouth, New Hampshire is not one of the states that is currently testing exit procedures. Gregg said that the program will not be a success unless the exit procedures are also in place and that “we still don’t see an exit program that works.”
The Department of Homeland Security, on its Web site, acknowledges that exit procedures are necessary “to demonstrate compliance” with visitors’ terms of admission to the country.
Since the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology Program began in July 2003, more than a thousand known criminals and immigration law violators have been intercepted, said James A. Williams, the program’s director, who was one of two witnesses at the hearing.
However, he said, there were still steps that needed to be taken. “We cannot continue to use 20th century tools,” Williams said.
Also testifying was Randolph C. Hite, the director of the Information Technology Architecture and Systems Issues of the Government Accountability Office. He said the Department of Homeland Security is updating and advancing its entry and exit procedures. This includes replacing the two-finger scan with a 10-finger scan when the technology is available.
These updates also will affect land crossings to and from states that border Canada or Mexico. For example, come Jan. 1, 2008, New Hampshire citizens who frequently travel to Canada will find that they are unable to cross the border unless they have a passport.
The passport requirement is one of the final steps in implementing the program, and it had created concerns about a possible decline in tourism and commerce. Also, beginning Jan. 1, 2007, all persons traveling between Canada and the United States via ferry will be required to present passports upon arrival and departure, a requirement intended to prevent tourists without proper identification from visiting.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said that many citizens believe these requirements have already been implemented and that it may have prevented many people from crossing the borders who do not have passports.
Many states that border Canada share the concern that added steps at entry points may hinder travel. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, said that “special attention needs to be paid to people who live on the northern tier.”
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