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Senator Feinstein Calls on DHS to Address Security Concerns With Visa Waiver Program in Wake of New GAO Report

–Report finds DHS does not adequately track foreign nationals from Visa Waiver countries–

Washington, DC – In the wake of a new government report illustrating failures with the nation’s visa waiver program, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security, today called on Department of Homeland Security to adequately address the program’s national security risks before expanding it to other countries.

“This report confirms concerns I have – that the visa waiver program is broken,” Senator Feinstein said. “The report shows that the program is not transparent, that DHS doesn’t follow its own operating procedures and that the Administration cannot accurately track those who enter and exit this country. We need a commitment from DHS that they can make this program work without compromising our national security.”

“Unless DHS takes action to address these national security risks, the visa waiver program will continue to be the soft underbelly of this nation’s immigration system and will provide both an attractive option for terrorists looking to do Americans harm and a way for foreign visitors to exploit our immigration laws,” Senator Feinstein said.

Senator Feinstein intends to hold a hearing next week about the GAO report and the visa waiver program in the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security.

Time/Location:      Wednesday, September 24, 2008
                                 2:30 p.m., 216 Hart Senate Office Building 

Topic:                   “The Visa Waiver Program: Mitigating Risks to Ensure Safety of All Americans.” 

The report, released today by the Government Accountability Office, found these failures:  

• The Department of Homeland Security’s program expansion process is not transparent. DHS hasn’t followed its own operating procedures for the visa waiver program and made it difficult for U.S. officials to manage the expectations of countries that aspire to be added to the program. 
  
• DHS is still not yet able to verify, as required by law, the departure of 97 percent of foreign nationals who exit through U.S. airports. 
  
• DHS will likely not meet the required July 2009 timeline to implement a biometric air exit system due to technical and operational difficulties, including potential opposition from the airline industry.
  
• The Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) for screening visa waiver travelers before they arrive in the United States has not been certified as fully operational and likely won’t meet a January 12, 2009 deadline. 

The report was requested by Senators Feinstein, Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), to examine whether the Bush Administration is implementing the security measures required of the visa waiver program under the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007. The visa waiver program enables citizens of participating countries to enter the United States for tourism or business for 90 days or less without obtaining a visa. Currently 27 countries participate in the program.  

The “Implementing the Recommendations of the  9/11 Commission Act of 2007”, which was signed into law in August 2007, requires that DHS not admit new countries with visa refusal rates greater than 10 percent into the visa waiver program until it can verify the departure of 97 percent of foreign travelers leaving U.S. airports. It also requires that there be in place a fully operational electronic travel authorization system for all travelers from visa waiver countries. Under this system, every visa waiver traveler must provide their biographical information to the Department of Homeland Security three before they can get on a plane to the United States.  

The GAO report found that neither mandate has yet been met. Despite this, DHS has announced that it intends to add five additional countries into the visa waiver system, four of which have visa refusal rates over the 10 percent accepted threshold (Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia.) 

          Senator Feinstein is requesting that the DHS work to implement the recommendations in the GAO report, including: 

• That DHS establish a more transparent process to expand the visa waiver program and determine which countries should be considered for expansion; 
  
• Designate an office to develop overstay rate information and direct the office to explore cost-effective ways to further validate, test and improve the reliability of overstay data;
  
• Direct the Visa Waiver Program Office to monitor overstay rates for current and aspiring visa waiver program countries to help evaluate whether these countries pose a potential illegal immigration risk to the United States.    

Background 

Every year, 15 million people enter the United States through the visa waiver program.  

It is estimated that 40 percent of the current undocumented population are people who have overstayed their visas. These are people who came in at a U.S. port through legal channels but never went home.  

At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on September 25, 2007, Director of National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell testified that Al Qaeda is recruiting Europeans because they do not require a visa to enter the United States. This tactics give Al Qaeda “an extra edge in getting an operative or two or three into the country with the ability to carry out an attack that might be reminiscent of 9-11,” Director McConnell said.  

That sentiment was echoed by DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, who in a January 2008 interview with the BBC, acknowledged that the first time the United States encounters visa waiver travelers is when they arrive at U.S. airports and other ports of entry. “That creates a very small window of opportunity to check them out,” Secretary Chertoff said.   

The GAO also issued a report on Sept. 5, 2006 which found that DHS had not established time frames or operating procedures for countries to report the theft of blank travel documents even though they’re required as part of the visa waiver program. The report found that DHS lacks a system for participating countries to alert the Administration when travel documents are lost or stolen. 

Here is the link to the GAO report: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08967.pdf  

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