The Department Of Homeland Security has yet to combine a dozen separate potential terrorist “watch lists,” according to Deputy Secretary Gordon England, who said during a news conference hosted by the Heritage Foundation that the task is a “technical challenge.” England said the separate databases and computers were not designed to share information. Another complicating factor is duplicate data included on some of the lists, with some names listed multiple times with different spellings, birthdates or hometowns. Despite the slow progress, England said the department had achieved several accomplishments, including the establishment of a counter-terrorism intelligence-analysis office, implementation of biometric technology used to track immigrants, and the use of new inspection systems to scan material entering the country.

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According to an article published by the Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio, the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services has placed a 10 year bar on the reentry of a Romanian grandmother who admitted to helping babysit her newborn grandson while in the country on a six-month visitor visa. According to a letter from the former Immigration and Naturalization Service, Maria Missits accepted “unauthorized employment” by providing child-care service to her daughter’s 10-month-old baby. Missits told immigration officials that she wanted to help her daughter, Ioana, with her son when asked why she wanted to extend her visa for 2 ½ months. In response, the Bureau claimed she was, in effect, “replacing an employable worker.” Ioana and her husband, Ho-Fan Lee, have permanent-resident status in the United States. Since Missits departed on March 31, the young couple has not hired anyone to help baby-sit the child.