Upgraded Biometric Technology Facilitates Visitors' Entry to the United States

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced today that upgraded biometric technology is in place at major U.S. ports of entry, and most international visitors should expect to use the new technology when they enter the United States. DHS's US-VISIT program began upgrading its biometric technology from a two- to a 10-fingerprint collection standard in 2007 to make the entry process faster and more accurate, enabling DHS officials to focus their attention on people who may pose a risk to the United States, those officials say.

"Since 2004, biometrics have facilitated legitimate travel for millions of visitors entering the United States," says US-VISIT Director Robert Mocny. "The 10-fingerprint upgrade makes this proven system even more efficient and enhances the security of our nation."

For the last five years, U.S. Department of State consular officers and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers have collected biometric information -- digital fingerprints and a photograph -- from all non-U.S. citizens between the ages of 14 and 79, with some exceptions, when they apply for visas or arrive at major U.S. ports of entry. State consular officers began collecting 10 fingerprints from visa applicants in 2007.

Collecting 10 fingerprints increases fingerprint matching accuracy and reduces the possibility that the system will misidentify an international visitor, DHS says. It also strengthens DHS's capability to check visitors' fingerprints against the FBI's criminal data and enables DHS to check visitors' fingerprints against latent fingerprints collected by the Department of Defense (DOD) and the FBI from known and unknown terrorists around the world, DHS says.

DHS's US-VISIT program, in cooperation with CBP, is leading the department's upgrade to 10-fingerprint collection. This upgrade is the result of an interagency partnership among DHS, FBI, DOD and State.

US-VISIT provides biometric identification services to agencies throughout federal, state and local government. The program's most visible service is the collection of biometrics from international visitors when they apply for visas and enter the United States. Since US-VISIT began in 2004, DHS's use of biometrics has helped prevent the use of fraudulent documents, protect visitors from identity theft, and stop thousands of criminals and immigration violators from entering the United States.

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Apprehensions Down 30 Percent Along Southern Border

Apprehensions through the end of the second quarter are down 30 percent compared to the sameperiod during the previous fiscal year, continuing a trend in the overall decline of border apprehensions between ports of entry, according to the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency.

From Oct. 1 through March 31, CBP Border Patrol agents made 418,184 arrests along the US southern border compared to 594,142 apprehensions during the same period last year, with all southern bordersectors experiencing declines in apprehensions. The Del Rio, Texas and Yuma, Ariz., sectors experienced the greatest declines, with a decrease of 68 percent in Yuma (24,726 apprehensions) and a decrease of 57 percent in Del Rio (12,151 apprehensions), CBP says.

Apprehensions of other than Mexico nationals declined 55 percent along the southern border, which totaled 25,269 through the second quarter 2007. The decrease in other-than-Mexican apprehensions reduces the time agents spend transporting and processing and increases time spent patrolling the border, the agency adds.

Under the Secure Border Initiative, CBP continues to strengthen border security efforts through the deployment and integration of tactical infrastructure, proven technology and additional personnel. Other significant efforts include the expansion of expedited removal, thedeployment of National Guard personnel through Operation Jump Start, targeted operations within the sectors and strong federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partnerships, CBP says.

Additionally, Border Patrol agents have seized more than 1 million pounds of marijuana (a 31 percent increase) and 7,275 pounds of cocaine (a122 percent increase) compared to same period in fiscal year 2006. Agents in the Tucson, Ariz., sector accounted for nearly 50 percent of the southern border marijuana seizures with 498,815 pounds and the Rio GrandeValley, Texas, sector accounted for 55 percent of the cocaine seizures with4,021 pounds, CBP says. The total combined estimated value of the narcotics seizedalong the southern border is more than $1.03 billion, it adds.

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Enrollment System for Traveler Programs Upgraded

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced it has upgraded its Web-based scheduling tool for registered frequent travelers and has eliminated a previous backlog for membership into the programs. Turnaround time for new applicants using the Global Online Enrollment System (GOES) is now less than six weeks, down from up to a year in some high volume locations before GOES was available, the border agency says.

The online application, launched in November 2006, enables a more efficient method of applying for or renewing membership into SENTRI, the southern border frequent traveler program. This tool also streamlines the application process allowing applicants to schedule their interview from their own online account, which will automatically alert users when they have been conditionally approved and prompt them to schedule a final appointment, CBP says.

"Technology is a critical tool to border management, and we will continue to leverage the right technologies to meet the myriad challenges inherent with our mission of keeping terrorists and their weapons out of the country while facilitating legitimate trade and travel," says CBP Commissioner W. Ralph Basham.

The SENTRI program, or Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection, first launched in Southern California in 1995 to provide approved participants expedited processing at certain high-volume crossings. Nationwide, there are more than 100,000 members, with an expected growth of more than 30,000 anticipated during 2007.

In the future, the Global Online Enrollment System will also beavailable to NEXUS and FAST members. Nexus is a joint frequent traveler program with Canada, and FAST, or Free and Secure Trade, is the trade equivalent, and is available on both the northern and southern borders at designated locations. It is anticipated that these programs also will fulfill the secure travel document requirements for land and sea travel under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.

There are over 300,000 members in all three programs, according to CBP. For more information, please visit cbp.gov and click the "Travel" tab.

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Biometrics Helps Identify, Apprehend Immigration Violators

The U.S. Department ofHomeland Security (DHS) announced initial results of a biometric identification pilot program between US-VISIT and the U.S. Coast Guard to target illegal migration in the Mona Passage, a body of water between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Since the start of the pilot program in November 2006, the Coast Guard has interdicted 21 vessels containing 558 undocumented aliens.

Twenty-two of the aliens apprehended face criminal prosecution for immigration offenses that prohibit attempts to enter or re-enter the U.S. illegally. Three of the aliens were previously removed as aggravated felons, and one alien was previously convicted of homicide in the United States.

"Biometrics is a powerful tool for the Coast Guard," says Rear Admiral Wayne Justice, Coast Guard assistant commandant for response. "It acts as a force multiplier by helping our officers to quickly and accurately identify the migrants they encounter, and aggressively enforce our immigration laws at sea. We're also sending a strong deterrent message to anyone thinking of entering U.S. territory through this body of water -- they will be apprehended, and we will know who they are and the facts of their immigration history."

The pilot program provides a technological capability for the Coast Guard to capture digital fingerprints and photographs from illegal aliens apprehended at sea and compare that biometric information against US-VISIT data. Aliens not being prosecuted are returned to the Dominican Republic, and their biometric information is retained and accessible to the Coast Guard to compare against future apprehensions.

The pilot project furthers a broader effort to develop a biometric mobile solution for collection and analysis, and represents another step in the department's comprehensive strategy to secure U.S. borders.

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Secure Border Net At Risk of Failure, Gov't Audit Says

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's development of its SBInet program needs improvement or risks failure, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation.

SBInet is one element of the DHS Secure Border Initiative (SBI). SBInet is responsible for developing a comprehensive border protection system. According to DHS, the system is to cover 6,000 miles of U.S. border and is designed to:

• Detect an entry when it occurs.
• Identify what the entry is.
• Classify its level of threat (who the entrant is,
  what the entrant is doing, how many, etc.).
• Respond effectively and efficiently to
  the entry, and bring the situation to the
  appropriate law enforcement resolution.

"To its credit, the SBInet contract was generally competed in accordance with federal requirements. However, the SBInet contract does not fully satisfy the federal regulatory requirement to specify a maximum dollar value or the number of units that may be ordered," GAO says in a new report. "We also reported that important management controls provided for in [White House] Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance and best practices were not yet in place, although the program manager stated that he was committed to doing so. Until they are in place, the program is at increased risk of failure."

GAO is the nonpartisan, investigative arm of Congress.

"DHS’s plan to execute SBInet activities through a series of concurrent task orders introduces additional risk. With multiple related and dependent projects being undertaken simultaneously, SBInet is exposed to possible cost and schedule overruns and performance problems," the report says.

"Without assessing this level of concurrency and how it affects project implementation, SBInet runs the risk of not delivering promised capabilities and benefits on time and within budget," the report adds. "SBI and SBInet officials told us that they understand the risks inherent in concurrency and are addressing these risks. However, as of December 2006, they had not provided evidence that identified the dependencies among their concurrent activities and that they were proactively managing the associated risk."


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Border Security System Faces Strategic, Operational, Technological Challenges

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's US-VISIT border security system faces a variety of technological and other challenges, a government watchdog agency says.

US-VISIT is designed 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 identities, and record arrival and departure.

US-VISIT entry capability had been installed at 154 of the 170 land POEs. Officials at all 21 sites visited by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) 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, notes GAO, the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress.

"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," GAO says.

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, GAO finds.

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 tested did not meet the statutory requirement for a biometric exit capability and thus cannot ensure that visitors who enter the country are those who leave, GAO says.

"DHS had not yet reported to Congress on a required plan describing how it intended 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," GAO adds.

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U.S. Border Patrol Says Drop In Apprehensions Sign of Progress

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol first quarter apprehensions are down 26 percent compared to last year along the southwest border, an indication that the Border Patrol is becoming better equipped to respond to and resolve border security threats between the ports of entry, the agency says.

During the period that began October 1, Border Patrol agents made 158,818 apprehensions along the southern U.S. border compared to 207,197 apprehensions during the same period last year, with all southern border sectors experiencing declines in apprehensions, the agency says.

The Del Rio, Texas and Yuma, Ariz. sectors experienced the greatest declines, both with a decrease of 63 percent with 4,370 and 9,320 apprehensions respectively. The number of other- than-Mexican alien apprehensions dropped 58 percent along the southern border, which totaled 12,942 through the first quarter 2007. The decrease in other-than-Mexican apprehensions reduces the time agents spend transporting and processing and increases their time spent patrollingthe border, the agency says.

Under the Secure Border Initiative, CBP continues to enhance border security through a comprehensive approach of implementing innovative programs to include the expansion of expedited removal, Operation Streamline and Operation Jump Start as well as hiring additional Border Patrol agents, up to 6,000 by the end of 2008. The continued use of cutting-edge technology, tactical infrastructure and CBP's increased ability to detain other-than-Mexicans, further augments the border security mission, CBP says.

"We are seeing positive results," says Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar. "These programs continue to enable our frontline agents to be moreeffective in our border security mission."

Additionally, Border Patrol agents have seized more than 468,879 poundsof marijuana (a 26 percent increase) and nearly 2,934 pounds of cocaine (a96 percent increase) compared to the first quarter of fiscal year 2006. Agents in the Tucson, Ariz. sector accounted for 46 percent of the southernborder marijuana seizures with 216,970 pounds and the Rio Grande Valley sector accounted for 50 percent of the cocaine seizures with 127,046 pounds. The combined estimated value of the narcotics is nearly $474 million, CBP says.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, controland protection of U.S. borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out ofthe country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

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