JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ISSUES TWO REPORTS ON IMMIGRATION SECURITY ISSUES

Since the attacks of September 11^th, nearly all aspects of the US immigration system have come under increased scrutiny.  In particular, the Visa Waiver Program and the Transit without Visa program have received particular attention.  In the months since the attacks, the Justice Department Office of the Inspector General has been following up on reports on the two programs.  This week, the results of the reviews were released. 

The Visa Waiver Program allows citizens of 29 countries to enter the US without obtaining a visa.  They can remain in the US for up to 90 days.  While not subject to review by the State Department, because there is no visa application, those seeking to enter under the Visa Waiver Program are inspected by INS officers at their time of entry.

The original report on the program, from 1999, noted the possible security risks that could be created by the program and made a number of recommendations on ways to improve security.  During the recent review, how the INS was implementing these recommendations was the focus.

The first recommendation was to ensure that all passport numbers are checked against a lookout system to ensure that no entrants possess stolen passports.  At the time of the first report, it was clear that in many cases this did not happen.  The INS later issued a memo instructing inspectors to do so, but the follow-up review indicates this is still not done on a routine basis. 

The second recommendation was that the INS create a special department to deal with issues relating to passport theft in countries participating in the Visa Waiver Program.  While such a department was created, the communication between the department and INS inspectors at ports of entry is lacking.  Moreover, the department is very slow at entering stolen passport information into the database used by INS inspectors. 

The third recommendation was that the INS develop clear guidelines for entering passport information into the database.  The review showed that this has not happened.  The review concluded that the INS has not done much to address the original recommendations.  These recommendations were made again and the agency was urged to “take aggressive follow-up actions.”

The second report dealt with the Transit without Visa Program, which allows people whose travel will take them through the US without remaining to pass though without a visa.  As with the Visa Waiver Program there are a number of security concerns. 

The Office of the Inspector General first issued a report on the Transit without Visa Program in 1993 that identified a number of security concerns.  During the recent follow-up the same concerns were found to still be present.  Many in the INS reportedly would like to terminate the program, saying that increased airplane range has largely rendered it obsolete, but opposition to such an idea is strong among the travel industry. 

The report found that the INS has significantly increased the security of the Transit without Visa Program since September 11^th, but that substantial concerns remain.