Yep, it would be a growth industry.
Posted on 06/05/2004 6:15:50 AM PDT by take
Lax visitor-tracking system a potential threat, critics say
WASHINGTON -- The federal government vastly underestimates how many foreigners are overstaying their U.S. visas -- as four of the Sept. 11 hijackers did -- and isn't tracking them adequately, a new federal report said Thursday.
"Weaknesses in overstay tracking may encourage visitors and potential terrorists who legally enter the United States to overstay," concludes a 57-page report from the U.S. General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress.
The Department of Homeland Security figures that 2.3 million people are in the country on expired visas, but the GAO said the real number is considerably higher because federal officials didn't count millions of Mexicans and Canadians, and because the government tracks exiting visitors haphazardly.
Some advocates of tighter immigration controls call this a security issue, noting that Mohamed Atta and three other Sept. 11 hijackers overstayed their visas. Immigration advocates say the majority of foreigners who overstay are trying to remain in the United States legally, but are trapped by a slow-moving federal bureaucracy.
"Poor border governance, outdated tracking systems and lax interior visa enforcement continue to put us at unnecessary risk as we go about our daily lives," said Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, who's proposed changes in immigration law. "Only when we can keep track of everyone who comes across our borders, both when arriving in the United States and during their stays here, can we expect to realize optimum safety and security."
The GAO report highlighted long-standing problems that are being fixed by a new automated tracking system that started going into effect in January, said Homeland Security spokesman Bill Strassberger.
Earlier this week, Homeland Security signed a contract that could be worth up to $10 billion for a private company to try and oversee a new tracking system for foreign visitors. The tracking system electronically logs foreigners entering and exiting 115 airports and 14 seaports, but doesn't yet cover land border crossings.
GAO auditors pointed out that in one year alone, 2001, the Immigration and Naturalization Service's poor tracking system showed that 7 million people weren't logged as leaving on time. Most of those people did leave on time, but their exits weren't noted because of system problems, the report said.
Big Brother Isn't Watching.
There is a magnitude greater number of illegal immigrants in California who don't even have visa's , or ever even contemplating getting one and legislators are too busy trying to skip the whole visa process and legalize their stay by just give them drivers licenses. Then after they are finished, they might get around to penalizing those dumb ones who filled out the paper work and didn't keep it up to date for the intent of trying to invade, spy or terrorize our nation.
Big Brother is watching alright. Big Brother just perfers to watch US, to make sure WE stay in line. Big Brother is not interested in our safety, except as a covery story.
Let me see if I have the math right. A person who overstays his visa is liable for:
1. Deportation
2. A fine of $1,000
3. Being denied a visa to enter the United States for the next ten years
If we have 2.3 million who have overstayed their visas, perhaps Congress -- and the Democrats in Congress in particular who are always seeking new "revenue enhancements" -- ought to authorize bounty hunters to find these people, make the fine an adminstrative fine not subject to review by the courts (the same goes for the deportation), and split the fees with the bounty hunters. That's $1.15 billion for them and an equal amount for FreeRepublicans.
Sure he is. He just put up another traffic camera in Atlanta metro to ticket violators at a crowded 4-way intersection.
I'm a recently retired former INS agent, having spent 26 years in a major metropolitan district office of the INS. When I first arrived, there was a system - feeble, ineffective and ancient - for "tracking" aliens in the US on temporary visas, which involved a requirement to notify INS of address changes, to provide annually a current address regardless of any changes, and to surrender their Form I-94 on departure as a means of informing INS of their leaving. It went out the window soon after my start - coincidence? Hmm... - hasn't been tried since, and, as the article says, no system at all has been tried for at least 15-20 years to keep track of visitors, even to the point of trying to verify their departure from out country.
It's unfortunate. The priorities of our law enforcement agencies are severely flawed. Filling city and state coffers with speed traps, red-light cameras, and Gestapo-esque patrols has taken precedence over securing our nations' borders, both to the north and south.
Can I check a box on my IRS Tax Return to donate $1.00 to deport these people rather than support politicians to run for public office??
I like the idea of bounty hunters. Could create another 50,000 jobs in a week!
Why is it Block busters can keep track of every rental they have out and notify one if it is a day over due? Maybe our government should employ Block Buster employees...at half the cost..
Disgusting.
Well, DUH!!
Yep, it would be a growth industry.
A bounty should be put on illegals, too, with triple awarded if INS does not adjudicate the case by a date certain.
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