We are concerned about the large number of travelers who are exempt from
enrollment in US-VISIT. This includes Mexican Border Crossing Card (BCC)
holders. BCC holders, who accounted for approximately 43.8% of foreign
national land border crossings in fiscal year (FY) 2002, are exempt from
enrollment if they enter under BCC provisions. Furthermore, visa exempt
Canadians, who accounted for approximately 22% of foreign national land border
crossings in FY 2002, are excluded from enrollment. Visa exempt Canadians may
be admitted to the United States with limited information to verify their identities.
In addition, foreign nationals from Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries
accounted for approximately 0.8% of the foreign national land border crossings
in FY 2002.
1
While we support the enrollment of VWP countries in US-VISIT
and believe this practice enhances the integrity of the immigration process, as
VWP countries become compliant with International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO) standards,
2
the technology embedded in passports will be different from
technology employed by US-VISIT. Until the two technologies for verifying a
traveler’s identity and admissibility are integrated, VWP countries should remain
enrolled in US-VISIT.
3
Finally, the time consuming process that the Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) officers must use to query multiple database systems to verify travelers’
identities and identify potential criminals and terrorists is particularly problematic
at land POEs because of the limited time available to conduct the queries. As
a result, travelers at land POEs are not inspected as intensively as those at air
and sea POEs. The integration of the multiple database systems is needed to
enable CBP officers at land POEs to validate the identity of visitors requesting
admission.
1
The VWP permits foreign nationals from designated countries to apply for admission to the United States for a maximum of
90 days as visitors for business or pleasure without first obtaining a non-immigrant visa. Participating countries are Andorra,
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein,
Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
2
The ICAO coordinates the development of a code of international aviation law and functions to facilitate the adoption of
common documents and to promote their general acceptance.
3
In our report, An Evaluation of the Security Implications of the Visa Waiver Program, OIG-04-26, we discuss the national
security implications of the VWP. VWP travelers do not apply for a visa before traveling to the United States and thereby
avoid the rigorous visa application process conducted by the Department of State consular officers. Therefore, when VWP
travelers arrive in the United States, CBP officers have very little information about the travelers to verify identifi es and
to make admissibility decisions. The VWP program presents a potential national security concern because terrorists and
criminals may use passports from VWP countries to avoid the visa application process. Further, the significance of this
national security problem is increased because of the large number of lost and stolen VWP passports potentially available to
terrorists and criminals. This report is also available on our website at http://www.dhs.gov.oig.
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Implementation of the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status
Indicator Technology Program at Land Border Ports of Entry