Summary
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) established the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program to collect, maintain, and share data on selected foreign nationals entering and exiting the United States at air, sea and land ports of entry (POEs). These data, including biometric identifiers like digital fingerprints, are to be used to screen persons against watch lists, verify visitors' identities, and record arrival and departure. GAO was asked to review implementation at land POE facilities and in doing so GAO analyzed: (1) efforts to implement US-VISIT entry capability; (2) efforts to implement US-VISIT exit capability; and (3) DHS's efforts to define how US-VISIT fits with other emerging border security initiatives. GAO reviewed DHS and US-VISIT program documents, interviewed program officials, and visited 21 land POEs with varied traffic levels on both borders.
US-VISIT entry capability has been installed at 154 of the 170 land POEs. Officials at all 21 sites GAO visited reported that US-VISIT had improved their ability to process visitors and verify identities. DHS plans to further enhance US-VISIT's capabilities by, among other things, requiring new technology and equipment for scanning all 10 fingerprints. While this may aid border security, installation could increase processing times and adversely affect operations at land POEs where space constraints, traffic congestion, and processing delays already exist. GAO's work indicated that management controls in place to identify such problems and evaluate operations were insufficient and inconsistently administered. For example, GAO identified computer processing problems at 12 sites visited; at 9 of these, the problems were not always reported. US-VISIT has developed performance measures, but measures to gauge factors that uniquely affect land POE operations were not developed; these would put US-VISIT officials in a better position to identify areas for improvement. US-VISIT officials concluded that, for various reasons, a biometric US-VISIT exit capability cannot now be implemented without incurring a major impact on land POE facilities. An interim nonbiometric exit technology being tested does not meet the statutory requirement for a biometric exit capability and cannot ensure that visitors who enter the country are those who leave. DHS has not yet reported to Congress on a required plan describing how it intends to fully implement a biometric entry/exit program, or use nonbiometric solutions. Until this plan is finalized, neither DHS nor Congress is in a good position to prioritize and allocate program resources or plan for POE facilities modifications. DHS has not yet articulated how US-VISIT is to align with other emerging land border security initiatives and mandates, and thus cannot ensure that the program will meet strategic program goals and operate cost effectively at land POEs. Knowing how US-VISIT is to work with these initiatives, such as one requiring U.S. citizens, Canadians, and others to present passports or other documents at the border in 2009, is important for understanding the broader strategic context for US-VISIT and identifying resources, tools, and potential facility modifications needed to ensure success.
Recommendations
Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change
from "In process" to "Implemented" or "Not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director:
Team:
Phone:
Richard M. Stana
Government Accountability Office: Homeland Security and Justice
(202) 512-8816
Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: To help DHS achieve benefits commensurate with its investment in US-VISIT at land POEs and security goals and objectives, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the US-VISIT Program Director, in collaboration with the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection to improve existing management controls for identifying and reporting computer processing and other operational problems as they arise at land POEs and ensure that these controls are consistently administered.
Agency Affected: Department of Homeland Security
Status: In process
Comments: In fiscal year 2007, we analyzed how the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program implemented technologies used to screen persons against watch lists at land port of entry (POE) facilities and worked to complement other emerging border security initiatives. We reported, among other things, that management controls in place to evaluate operations were insufficient and inconsistently administered. In August 2008, US-VISIT officials stated that they had transferred all US-VISIT installed equipment at land POEs to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and stated that CBP is now responsible for developing and implementing management controls at land POEs to evaluate operations and identify problems moving forward. However, US-VISIT officials said that they expect to provide some assistance to CBP; when CBP submits requests for assistance, US-VISIT said that they are positioned to respond to as appropriate. Further, officials told us that US-VISIT's information technology group holds a weekly status call with CBP to address any issues that may develop and ensure broad awareness of how equipment is functioning at land POEs. DHS has not fully addressed the substance of this recommendation because it needs to clarify responsibilities for monitoring operations at land POEs related to US-VISIT entry capabilities; develop protocols for identifying and reporting computer processing and other operational problems as they arise; and ensure that these controls are consistently administered.
Recommendation: To help DHS achieve benefits commensurate with its investment in US-VISIT at land POEs and security goals and objectives, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the US-VISIT Program Director, in collaboration with the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection to develop performance measures for assessing the impact of US-VISIT operations specifically at land POEs.
Agency Affected: Department of Homeland Security
Status: In process
Comments: In fiscal year 2007, we analyzed how the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program implemented technologies used to screen persons against watch lists at land port of entry (POE) facilities and worked to complement other emerging border security initiatives. We reported, among other things, that US-VISIT has developed performance measures but these measures do not gauge factors that uniquely affect land port of entry operations. US-VISIT officials reported taking some actions to develop performance measures since our report was issued. Specifically, in May 2008, US-VISIT published a 10-Print Initial Deployment Performance Evaluation Report. This report evaluates the deployment of 10-Print fingerprinting capability (currently US-VISIT uses a 2-print system at land POEs) and develops 45 performance measures quantifying system performance in four different areas. While this evaluation serves as an important first step, US-VISIT needs to conduct additional analysis to fully meet this recommendation. First, the performance measures in this report assess system functionality and officer performance and do not necessarily provide information about the impact these systems are having on operations at land POEs. Second, this evaluation was not specific to land POEs and was based on data obtained from 10 commercial airports so it remains unclear whether these performance measures are applicable, especially since the inspection process used at land POEs differs from that used at air POEs.
Recommendation: As DHS finalized the statutorily mandated report describing a comprehensive biometric entry and exit system for US-VISIT, the Secretary of Homeland Security should take steps to ensure that the report include, among other things, information on the costs, benefits, and feasibility of deploying biometric and nonbiometric exit capabilities at land POEs.
Agency Affected: Department of Homeland Security
Status: In process
Comments: In fiscal year 2007, we analyzed how the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program implemented technologies used to screen persons against watch lists at land port of entry (POE) facilities and worked to complement other emerging border security initiatives. We reported, among other things, that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had not yet reported to Congress on a required plan describing how it intends to fully implement a biometric entry/exit program, or use nonbiometric solutions. We recommended that, as part of this report, DHS should discuss the costs, benefits, and feasibility of deploying these capabilities at land POEs. US-VISIT officials said that US-VISIT has begun developing the mandated report. However, they indicated that the earliest it will be available to the Congress is at the beginning of calendar year 2009. Officials stated that the report is expected to discuss the costs, benefits, and feasibility of fully implement a biometric or non-biometric entry exit systems. If this were to occur, decisionmakers would have a better idea whether DHS can achieve the legislatively mandated capability to record the exit of travelers at land POEs.
Recommendation: As DHS finalized the statutorily mandated report describing a comprehensive biometric entry and exit system for US-VISIT, the Secretary of Homeland Security should take steps to ensure that the report include, among other things, a discussion of how DHS intends to move from a nonbiometric exit capability, such as the technology currently being tested, to a reliable biometric exit capability that meets statutory requirements.
Agency Affected: Department of Homeland Security
Status: In process
Comments: In fiscal year 2007, we analyzed how the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program implemented technologies used to screen persons against watch lists at land port of entry (POE) facilities and worked to complement other emerging border security initiatives. We reported, among other things, that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had not yet reported to Congress on a required plan describing how it intends to fully implement a biometric entry/exit program, or use nonbiometric solutions. We recommended that, as part of this report, DHS should discuss how it intends to move from a nonbiometric exit capability to a reliable biometric exit capability that meets statutory requirements. US-VISIT officials reported that US-VISIT has begun developing the mandated report. However, officials stated that the earliest it will be available to the Congress is at the beginning of calendar year 2009. If US-VISIT officials complete this analysis, they will be better positioned to articulate the feasibility of implementing a statutorily mandated biometric exit capability and how DHS intends to meet its statutory obligations.
Recommendation: As DHS finalized the statutorily mandated report describing a comprehensive biometric entry and exit system for US-VISIT, the Secretary of Homeland Security should take steps to ensure that the report include, among other things, a description of how DHS expects to align emerging land border security initiatives with US-VISIT and what facility or facility modifications would be needed at land POEs to ensure that technology and process work in harmony.
Agency Affected: Department of Homeland Security
Status: In process
Comments: In fiscal year 2007, we analyzed how the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program implemented technologies used to screen persons against watch lists at land port of entry (POE) facilities and worked to complement other emerging border security initiatives. We reported, among other things, that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had not yet reported to Congress on a required plan describing how it intends to fully implement a biometric entry/exit program, or use nonbiometric solutions. As part of this report, DHS should include a description of how DHS expects to align emerging land border security initiatives with US-VISIT. US-VISIT officials stated that US-VISIT has begun developing the mandated report. However, they said that the earliest it will be available to the Congress is at the beginning of calendar year 2009. Knowing how US-VISIT is to work in harmony with other land border initiatives could help Congress, DHS and others better understand what resources tools, and investments in land POE facilities and infrastructure are needed to ensure their success, while providing critical information to help make decisions about other DHS missions.
