Homeland Security
Strategic Solution for US-VISIT Program Needs to Be Better Defined, Justified, and Coordinated Gao ID: GAO-08-361 February 29, 2008The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program's goals are to enhance the security of U.S. citizens and visitors, facilitate legitimate travel and trade, ensure the integrity of the U.S. immigration system, and protect the privacy of visitors. It is to use biometric and biographic information to control and monitor the pre-entry, entry, status, and exit of foreign visitors. GAO was asked to determine (1) whether DHS has defined and economically justified a strategic solution for meeting US-VISIT goals; (2) the biometric technology options DHS has considered and the basis for the selected options; and (3) DHS's efforts to define, manage, and coordinate the relationships between US-VISIT and other immigration and border management programs. To accomplish this, GAO assessed key program documentation against relevant criteria and examined available biometric research.
DHS has partially defined a strategic solution for meeting US-VISIT's goals. In particular, the US-VISIT program office has defined and begun to develop a key capability known as "Unique Identity," which is to establish a single identity for all individuals who interact with any immigration and border management organization by capturing the individual's biometrics, including 10 fingerprints and a digital image, at the earliest possible interaction. However, the program office has yet to define and economically justify a comprehensive strategic solution for controlling and monitoring the exit of foreign visitors, which is critical to accomplishing the program's goals. Further, the department did not economically justify its ongoing investment in Unique Identity in a timely fashion. Specifically, the program office did not justify its investment until about 14 months after selecting and pursuing an alternative solution and obligating about $65 million. The absence of a fully defined strategic solution and timely economic justification hinders informed decision making about the best course of action for accomplishing strategic program goals and inhibits the ability to measure performance and promote accountability. DHS considered various biometric technologies, including fingerprints, facial, and iris technologies, and continues to use fingerprints as its foundational biometric technology. The focus on fingerprint technology is appropriate, given the opportunity to leverage existing DHS and Federal Bureau of Investigation identification systems and databases and to establish a single identity mechanism for all immigration and border management programs. In addition, research into fingerprints and other forms of biometric identification, such as facial recognition and iris scanning, show that fingerprints continue to be the most accurate biometric for identification purposes. DHS is taking a range of evolving actions, primarily at the department level, to coordinate relationships among US-VISIT and other immigration and border management programs. Thus far, this evolution has yet to progress to the point of reflecting the full scope of key practices that GAO has previously identified as essential to enhancing and sustaining collaborative efforts that span multiple organizations. To its credit, the department has defined common outcomes through its strategic plan and enterprise architecture and has taken steps to implement other collaboration practices, such as leveraging resources across its screening programs and developing screening performance indicators. However, the US-VISIT program office has yet to fully define its relationships with other immigration and border management programs. As a result, the department is at increased risk of introducing the inefficiencies and reduced effectiveness that result from suboptimizing how these programs collectively support its immigration and border management goals and objectives.
RecommendationsOur recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director: Team: Phone:GAO-08-361, Homeland Security: Strategic Solution for US-VISIT Program Needs to Be Better Defined, Justified, and Coordinated
This is the accessible text file for GAO report number GAO-08-361
entitled 'Homeland Security: Strategic Solution for US-VISIT Program
Needs to Be Better Defined, Justified, and Coordinated' which was
released on March 31, 2008.
This text file was formatted by the U.S. Government Accountability
Office (GAO) to be accessible to users with visual impairments, as part
of a longer term project to improve GAO products' accessibility. Every
attempt has been made to maintain the structural and data integrity of
the original printed product. Accessibility features, such as text
descriptions of tables, consecutively numbered footnotes placed at the
end of the file, and the text of agency comment letters, are provided
but may not exactly duplicate the presentation or format of the printed
version. The portable document format (PDF) file is an exact electronic
replica of the printed version. We welcome your feedback. Please E-mail
your comments regarding the contents or accessibility features of this
document to Webmaster@gao.gov.
This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright
protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed
in its entirety without further permission from GAO. Because this work
may contain copyrighted images or other material, permission from the
copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this
material separately.
Report to the Chairman and Ranking Member, Committee on Homeland
Security, House of Representatives:
GAO:
February 2008:
Homeland Security:
Strategic Solution for US-VISIT Program Needs to Be Better Defined,
Justified, and Coordinated:
Homeland Security:
GAO-08-361:
GAO Highlights:
Highlights of GAO-08-361, a report to the Chairman and Ranking Member,
Committee on Homeland Security, House of Representatives.
Why GAO Did This Study:
The Department of Homeland Security‘s (DHS) U.S. Visitor and Immigrant
Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program‘s goals are to enhance
the security of U.S. citizens and visitors, facilitate legitimate
travel and trade, ensure the integrity of the U.S. immigration system,
and protect the privacy of visitors. It is to use biometric and
biographic information to control and monitor the pre-entry, entry,
status, and exit of foreign visitors. GAO was asked to determine (1)
whether DHS has defined and economically justified a strategic solution
for meeting US-VISIT goals; (2) the biometric technology options DHS
has considered and the basis for the selected options; and (3) DHS‘s
efforts to define, manage, and coordinate the relationships between US-
VISIT and other immigration and border management programs. To
accomplish this, GAO assessed key program documentation against
relevant criteria and examined available biometric research.
What GAO Found:
DHS has partially defined a strategic solution for meeting US-VISIT‘s
goals. In particular, the US-VISIT program office has defined and begun
to develop a key capability known as ’Unique Identity,“ which is to
establish a single identity for all individuals who interact with any
immigration and border management organization by capturing the
individual‘s biometrics, including 10 fingerprints and a digital image,
at the earliest possible interaction. However, the program office has
yet to define and economically justify a comprehensive strategic
solution for controlling and monitoring the exit of foreign visitors,
which is critical to accomplishing the program‘s goals. Further, the
department did not economically justify its ongoing investment in
Unique Identity in a timely fashion. Specifically, the program office
did not justify its investment until about 14 months after selecting
and pursuing an alternative solution and obligating about $65 million.
The absence of a fully defined strategic solution and timely economic
justification hinders informed decision making about the best course of
action for accomplishing strategic program goals and inhibits the
ability to measure performance and promote accountability.
DHS considered various biometric technologies, including fingerprints,
facial, and iris technologies, and continues to use fingerprints as its
foundational biometric technology. The focus on fingerprint technology
is appropriate, given the opportunity to leverage existing DHS and
Federal Bureau of Investigation identification systems and databases
and to establish a single identity mechanism for all immigration and
border management programs. In addition, research into fingerprints and
other forms of biometric identification, such as facial recognition and
iris scanning, show that fingerprints continue to be the most accurate
biometric for identification purposes.
DHS is taking a range of evolving actions, primarily at the department
level, to coordinate relationships among US-VISIT and other immigration
and border management programs. Thus far, this evolution has yet to
progress to the point of reflecting the full scope of key practices
that GAO has previously identified as essential to enhancing and
sustaining collaborative efforts that span multiple organizations. To
its credit, the department has defined common outcomes through its
strategic plan and enterprise architecture and has taken steps to
implement other collaboration practices, such as leveraging resources
across its screening programs and developing screening performance
indicators. However, the US-VISIT program office has yet to fully
define its relationships with other immigration and border management
programs. As a result, the department is at increased risk of
introducing the inefficiencies and reduced effectiveness that result
from suboptimizing how these programs collectively support its
immigration and border management goals and objectives.
What GAO Recommends:
GAO is recommending that the Secretary of Homeland Security ensure that
the strategic solution components are well-defined and economically
justified before investing large sums of money and that they are
effectively coordinated with related programs. DHS concurred with GAO‘s
recommendations and stated that it has initiated actions to implement
them.
To view the full product, including the scope and methodology, click on
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-361].
For more information, contact Joel C. Willemssen at (202) 512-6222 or
willemssenj@gao.gov.
[End of section]
Contents:
Letter1:
Results in Brief:
Background:
US-VISIT Strategic Solution Is Not Fully Defined, and No Aspects Were
Economically Justified Prior to Solution Development:
DHS Continues to Focus on Fingerprints as Its Primary Biometric
Technology:
Efforts to Define, Manage, and Coordinate Relationships among US-VISIT
and Other Border Security Programs Are Evolving:
Conclusions:
Recommendations for Executive Action:
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology:
Appendix II: Overview of Legislative Underpinnings for the US-VISIT
Program:
Appendix III: Overview of Biometric Technologies:
Appendix IV: Comments from the Department of Homeland Security:
Appendix V: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
Figures:
Figure 1: Simplified DHS Organizational Chart:
Figure 2: Simplified Diagram of US-VISIT Related Systems:
Figure 3: Simplified Diagram of Enumeration as Used by USCIS:
Figure 4: Simplified Diagram of iDSM Architecture:
Figure 5: Simplified Diagram of IOC Architecture:
Abbreviations:
ADIS: Arrival Departure Information System:
APIS: Advance Passenger Information System:
BioVisa: Biometric Visa Program:
BCC: Border Crossing Card:
CBP: U.S. Customs and Border Protection:
CCD: Consular Consolidated Database:
CLAIMS 3: Computer Linked Application Information Management System:
DHS: Department of Homeland Security:
DOJ: Department of Justice:
DMIA: Immigration and Naturalization Service Data Management
Improvement Act of 2000:
EA: enterprise architecture:
EAB: Enterprise Architecture Board:
ESB: Enterprise Service Bus:
FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigation:
GES: Global Enrollment System:
IAFIS: Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System:
ICE: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement:
iDSM: interim Data Sharing Model:
IDENT: Automated Biometric Identification System:
IIRIRA: Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of
1996:
ISRS: Image Storage Retrieval System:
IT: information technology:
NIST: National Institute of Standards and Technology:
POE: port of entry:
RFID: radio-frequency identification:
SCO: Screening Coordination Office:
SBI: Secure Border Initiative:
SEVIS: Student and Exchange Visitor Information System:
TECS: Treasury Enforcement Communications Systems:
US-VISIT: U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology:
USCG: U.S. Coast Guard:
USCIS: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services:
WHTI: Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative:
United States Government Accountability Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
February 29, 2008:
The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson:
Chairman:
The Honorable Peter T. King:
Ranking Member:
Committee on Homeland Security:
House of Representatives:
For many years the Congress and the administration have sought better
ways to record and track the arrival and departure of foreign visitors
through U.S. air, sea, and land ports of entry (POE). Pursuant to a
series of statutory mandates,[Footnote 1] the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS), in concert with the Department of State, established a
program to use biometric and biographic information to control and
monitor the pre-entry, entry, status, and exit of foreign
visitors.[Footnote 2] This program, which is called the U.S. Visitor
and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program, is
intended to enhance the security of U.S. citizens and visitors,
facilitate legitimate travel and trade, ensure the integrity of the
U.S. immigration system, and protect the privacy of visitors to the
United States.
DHS has pursued US-VISIT in a series of four increments, with
Increments 1 through 3 focusing on the near-term integration of
existing systems, and Increment 4 intended to be a more strategic
solution. As of February 2008, Increments 1 through 3 are completed,
resulting in an entry capability that has been deployed and is
operating at about 300 air, sea, and land POEs.
Because of the strategic importance of US-VISIT to our nation's
evolving immigration and border management process, you asked us to
determine (1) whether DHS has defined a strategic solution for meeting
US-VISIT goals and whether the solution has been economically
justified; (2) the biometric technology options DHS has considered and
the basis for the selected options; and (3) DHS's efforts to define,
manage, and coordinate the relationships between US-VISIT and other
immigration and border management programs. To accomplish our
objectives, we reviewed key program documentation, including plans and
analyses, and compared them with relevant criteria. We also examined
available government research on biometric technology options and
compared efforts taken to coordinate the efforts of different
organizational entities involved in US-VISIT with published
coordination best practices. We conducted our review from January 2007
through January 2008, in accordance with generally accepted government
auditing standards. Further details of our objectives, scope, and
methodology are included in appendix I.
Results in Brief:
DHS has partially defined a strategic solution for meeting US-VISIT
program goals. In particular, the program office has defined and begun
to develop one of the two key components of its strategic solution
known as Unique Identity, which is to establish a single identity for
all individuals who interact with any immigration and border management
organization by capturing the individual's biometrics, including 10
fingerprints and a digital image, at the earliest possible interaction.
However, the program office has yet to define and economically justify
the second primary component of its strategic solution--exit, which is
critical to accomplishing the program's goals. Compounding this is the
lack of timely economic justification for the Unique Identity solution.
For example, the program office did not economically justify its
investment in Unique Identity until about 14 months after selecting and
pursuing an alternative solution and obligating about $65 million. The
absence of a fully defined strategic solution and timely economic
justification hinders informed decision making about the best course of
action for accomplishing strategic program goals and inhibits the
ability to measure performance and promote accountability.
DHS considered various biometric technologies, including fingerprints,
facial, and iris technologies, and continues to use fingerprints as its
foundational biometric. The focus on fingerprint technology is
appropriate, given the opportunity to leverage existing DHS and Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) identification systems and databases, and
to establish a single identity mechanism for all immigration and border
management programs. Further, research into fingerprints and other
forms of biometric identification, such as facial recognition and iris
scanning, show that fingerprints continue to be the most accurate
biometric for identification purposes. Going forward, the program
office is taking steps to permit it to introduce other biometric
solutions at some future point.
DHS is taking a range of evolving actions, primarily at the department
level, to coordinate relationships among US-VISIT and other immigration
and border management programs, such as the Secure Border Initiative
(SBI) and the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI).
Specifically, the department has defined common outcomes through its
strategic plan and enterprise architecture (EA), and has taken steps to
implement other collaboration practices, such as leveraging resources
across its screening programs and developing screening performance
indicators. However, these actions do not yet reflect the full scope of
key practices that we have previously identified as essential to
enhancing and sustaining collaborative efforts that span multiple
organizations. For example, the US-VISIT program office has yet to
fully define either its relationships with WHTI and SBInet or its
approaches relative to addressing outcomes shared by all three
programs. As a result, the department risks suboptimizing how these
programs collectively support its immigration and border management
goals and objectives.
We are making recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland Security to
ensure that the strategic solution components are well-defined,
economically justified before investing large sums of money, and
effectively coordinated with related programs. In written comments on a
draft of this report, signed by the Director, Departmental GAO/Office
of Inspector General Liaison, the department stated that it generally
agreed with our observations and concurred with our recommendations,
and that it has initiated actions to implement our recommendations. DHS
also provided technical comments, which we have incorporated into this
report as appropriate.
Background:
US-VISIT's goals are to (1) enhance the security of U.S. citizens and
visitors, (2) facilitate legitimate travel and trade, (3) ensure the
integrity of the U.S. immigration system, and (4) protect the privacy
of visitors. The program is to achieve these goals by:
* collecting, maintaining, and sharing information on certain foreign
nationals who enter and exit the United States;
* identifying foreign nationals who (1) have overstayed or violated the
terms of their visit; (2) can receive, extend, or adjust their
immigration status; or (3) should be apprehended or detained by law
enforcement officials;
* detecting fraudulent travel documents, verifying visitor identity,
and determining visitor admissibility through the use of biometrics
(digital fingerprints and a digital photograph); and:
* facilitating information sharing and coordination within the
immigration and border management community.
Federal Statutes Provide a Strategic Framework for US-VISIT:
A series of statutes, dating back to more than a decade ago, have
provided a framework for the strategic focus of US-VISIT. A brief
summary of statutes is provided below, and additional detail is
provided in appendix II.
The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996
(IIRIRA)[Footnote 3] required the Attorney General to develop an
automated system to record the departure of every foreign national from
the United States and then match it to the individual's arrival record.
Subsequently, section 2 of the Immigration and Naturalization Service
Data Management Improvement Act (DMIA) of 2000[Footnote 4] amended the
original entry-exit provisions of the IIRIRA and required the Attorney
General[Footnote 5] to implement an integrated entry and exit data
system for foreign nationals.[Footnote 6] More specifically, the act
required an electronic system that would provide access to and
integrate foreign national arrival and departure data that are
authorized or required to be created or collected under law and are in
an electronic format in Department of Justice (DOJ) or Department of
State databases, such as those used at POEs and consular offices. The
system, as described in DMIA, is to compare available arrival records
with available departure records, allow online search procedures to
identify foreign nationals who may have overstayed their authorized
period of admission, and use available data to produce a report of
arriving and departing foreign nationals. DMIA also required the
implementation of the system at airports and seaports by December 31,
2003, at the 50 highest volume land POEs by December 31, 2004, and at
all remaining POEs by December 31, 2005.
Subsequent laws added specific biometric requirements to US-VISIT. The
USA PATRIOT Act,[Footnote 7] as amended, required the development and
certification of a technology standard by January 26, 2003, including
appropriate biometric identifiers that can be used to verify the
identity of persons applying for a U.S. visa or seeking to enter the
United States pursuant to a visa, for the purposes of conducting
background checks, confirming identity, and ensuring that a person has
not received a visa under a different name. The act also required DHS
and the Department of State to focus on the utilization of biometric
technology and the development of tamper-resistant documents readable
at POEs for the integrated entry and exit data system. Additionally,
the act required that a report be made to the Congress on the
feasibility of enhancing the FBI's Integrated Automated Fingerprint
Identification System (IAFIS) database and other identification systems
in order to better identify aliens who may be wanted in connection with
criminal investigations prior to the issuance of visas or entry into
the United States.
The Visa Waiver Permanent Program Act[Footnote 8] required DHS to
develop and implement a fully automated system to control entry and
exit of aliens at airports and seaports who enter the United States
under the Visa Waiver Program. It also required that, by October 1,
2002, inspectors at POEs have access to Department of State and DHS
information to determine whether an alien seeking a waiver under the
program is eligible to be admitted into the United States or to receive
a visa. Further, the act required that visa waiver applicants be
checked against watch list systems and that, by October 1, 2003, aliens
applying for a visa waiver have a machine-readable passport.[Footnote
9] The act was subsequently amended to require, not later than August
3, 2008, an exit system using biometric information and recording the
departure on a flight leaving the United States of every alien
participating in the Visa Waiver Program.[Footnote 10]
The Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002[Footnote
11] required DHS, in consultation with the Department of State, to use
the technology standard, including biometric identifier standards
developed under the USA PATRIOT Act, at POEs by October 26,
2005,[Footnote 12] to install equipment and software at all POEs to
allow biometric comparison and authentication of all U.S. visas and
other travel and entry documents issued to aliens, and passports with
biometric identifiers to be issued by Visa Waiver Program participating
countries.[Footnote 13]
The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004[Footnote
14] required the collection of biometric exit data for all categories
of individuals required to provide biometric entry data under US-
VISIT,[Footnote 15] regardless of the POE where they entered the United
States. The law did not set a deadline for implementation of this
requirement. The law also required DHS to develop a plan to accelerate
the full implementation of the program.
Overview of Program Structure and Organization:
The US-VISIT program office is responsible for managing the
acquisition, deployment, operation, and sustainment of US-VISIT. As of
March 2007, the program office reports directly to the Under Secretary
for National Protection and Programs. (See fig. 1.)
Figure 1: Simplified DHS Organizational Chart:
This figure is a "tree" chart displaying the hierarchy of DHS. The
Secretary and Deputy Secretary is positioned at the top, and Customs
and Border Protection, Citizenship and Immigration Services, and
Federal Emergency Management Agency is at the bottom.
[See PDF for image]
Source: GAO analysis of DHS data.
[End of figure]
US-VISIT supports a series of homeland security-related mission
processes that cover hundreds of millions of foreign national travelers
who enter and leave the United States at about 300 air, sea, and land
POEs. They are:
* pre-entry, which is the process to evaluate a traveler's eligibility
for required travel documents, enroll travelers in automated inspection
programs, and prescreen travelers entering the United States;
* entry, which is the process of determining a traveler's admissibility
to the United States at air, sea, or land POEs;
* status management, which is the process of managing and monitoring
the changes and extensions of the visits of lawfully admitted
nonimmigrant foreign nationals to ensure that they adhere to the terms
of their admission and to notify appropriate government entities when
they do not;
* exit, which is the process of collecting information on persons
departing the United States; and:
* analysis, which is the capability to provide for the continuous
screening against watch lists of individuals enrolled in US-VISIT for
appropriate reporting and action.
Overview of Program Status:
DHS planned to deliver US-VISIT capabilities in a series of four
increments: Increment 1 (air and sea entry), Increment 2 (air, sea, and
land entry), Increment 3 (land entry), and Increment 4, which is to be
a more strategic solution. Increments 1 through 3, which largely
involved building interfaces among existing ("legacy") systems and
enhancing the capabilities of these systems and supporting
infrastructure, have been completed. As a result, a biometrically
enabled entry capability is operating at about 300 POEs. More
specifically, on January 5, 2004, the program office began operating
most aspects of its planned biometric entry capability at 115 airports
and 14 seaports for certain foreign nationals, including those from
visa waiver countries.[Footnote 16] As of December 2006, the program
office was operating this entry capability in the secondary inspection
areas of 154 of 170 land POEs.[Footnote 17]
In September 2006, the program office deployed a capability to exchange
limited information with IAFIS, which is the FBI's automated 10-
fingerprint matching system. This capability, known as the interim Data
Sharing Model (iDSM), was initially deployed September 3, 2006, and,
according to the US-VISIT program office, is operating with the Boston
Police Department, the Dallas County (TX) Sheriff, the Harris County
(TX) Sheriff, and the Office of Personnel Management. Within the iDSM,
IAFIS users have access to DHS biometrically-based information on
expedited removals and Category 1 Visa Refusals.[Footnote 18]
Conversely, the Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT) users
have access to a limited set of IAFIS data that consists of active
Wants and Warrants and Known/Suspected Terrorists.
The key systems that support or are connected to US-VISIT are described
below. A simplified diagram of the relationships among these systems is
shown in figure 2.
* IDENT collects and stores biometric data about foreign visitors,
including information from the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) information on deported felons and sexual
registrants, and DHS information on previous criminal histories and
previous IDENT enrollments.
* IAFIS, which, as mentioned above, is the FBI's automated 10-
fingerprint matching system and is electronically connected to all 50
states, as well as some federal agencies.
* Arrival Departure Information System (ADIS), which stores noncitizen
traveler arrival and departure data received from air and sea carrier
manifests and provides query and reporting functions. ADIS matches
entry, immigration status updates, and departure data to provide
immigration status, including whether the individual has overstayed
his/her authorized period of stay.
* Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), which
contains data on change of status throughout a foreign student's or
exchange visitor's stay in the United States.
* Computer Linked Application Information Management System (CLAIMS 3),
which includes adjudication results on foreign nationals who request
immigration benefits such as change of status, extension of stay, or
adjustment to permanent resident status.
* Treasury Enforcement Communications Systems (TECS), which maintains
lookout (i.e., watch list) data, interfaces with other agencies'
databases, and is currently used by inspectors at POEs to verify
traveler information and update traveler data.
* Advance Passenger Information System (APIS), which captures arrival
and departure manifest information provided by air and sea carriers.
* Consular Consolidated Database (CCD), which is owned by the
Department of State and includes information on visa applicants.
* Image Storage and Retrieval System (ISRS), which stores U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) biometrics data, including
the photo and fingerprints of individuals who have been issued a
credential by USCIS.
* The USCIS Enterprise Service Bus (ESB), which provides network
connectivity in support of USCIS' "Inter-Country Adoption" program.
* The Global Enrollment System (GES), which supports the U.S. Customs
and Border Protection (CBP) programs for expedited processing of
preapproved, international, and low-risk travelers who voluntarily
exchange information in return for expedited transit at U.S. borders.
* The U.S. Coast Guard's (USCG) Mona Pass Proof-of-Concept, which is to
test the feasibility of deploying a mobile biometrics identification
capability to a Coast Guard cutter in the Mona Passage.[Footnote 19]
Figure 2: Simplified Diagram of US-VISIT Related Systems:
This figure is a flowchart of US-VISIT related systems.
[See PDF for image]
Source: GAO analysis of US-VISIT data.
[End of figure]
Through fiscal year 2007, DHS had been appropriated about $1.7 billion
and, as of October 2007, about $1.5 billion had been obligated for the
US-VISIT program. For fiscal year 2008, the department has been
appropriated $475 million for the program.
According to DHS, US-VISIT has produced mission value. For example, as
of June 15, 2007, the program reported that it had more than 7,600
biometric hits in primary entry resulting in more than 1,500 people
having adverse actions, such as denial of entry, taken against them.
Further, about 14,000 leads were referred to the ICE immigration
enforcement unit, resulting in 315 arrests.[Footnote 20] Another
potential consequence is the deterrent effect of having an operational
entry capability. Although deterrence is difficult to demonstrate,
officials have cited it as a byproduct of having a publicized
capability at the border to screen entry on the basis of identity
verification and matching against watch lists of known and suspected
terrorists.
Overview of Biometric Technologies and Systems:
Biometric technologies measure and analyze human physiological and
behavioral characteristics. Identifying a person's physiological
characteristics is based on direct measurement of a part of the body
(e.g., fingertips, hands, face, eye retinas, and irises). Biometric
measurements are theoretically effective personal identifiers because
the characteristics measured (e.g., fingertips, hands, face, eye
retinas, and irises) are thought to be distinct to each person.
Therefore, unlike conventional identification methods that use
something physical (e.g., an identification card), or a piece of
information (e.g., a password), biometric identifiers are more
reliable, cannot be forgotten, and are more difficult to lose, steal,
or guess.
Biometric identification systems function as pattern recognition
systems. They use acquisition devices, such as cameras and scanning
devices, to capture images, recordings, or measurements of an
individual's characteristics and computer hardware and software to
extract, encode, store, and compare these characteristics.
Depending on the application, biometric systems can be used in one of
two modes: identification or verification. Identification is referred
to as one-to-many matching because an individual's presented biometric
is compared against the stored biometric templates[Footnote 21] of all
individuals enrolled in the system. It is used to establish a person's
identity--that is, to determine who a person is. Verification--also
called authentication--is referred to as one-to-one matching because an
individual's presented biometric is compared against the biometric for
that person, which was stored in the system during enrollment. It is
used to verify a person's identity--that is, to authenticate that
individuals are who they say they are.
Other DHS Border Security and Immigration Initiatives:
Besides US-VISIT, DHS has begun to plan and implement several other
initiatives aimed at better securing our nation's borders and managing
immigration matters, such as WHTI and SBI. WHTI was established
pursuant to the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of
2004, which required the Secretary of Homeland Security, in
consultation with the Secretary of State, to develop and implement a
plan that requires U.S. citizens and foreign nationals of Canada,
Bermuda, and Mexico to present a passport or other document or
combination of documents deemed sufficient to show identity and
citizenship to enter the United States.[Footnote 22] As of January 23,
2007, citizens of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda are
required to present a passport to enter the United States when arriving
by air from any part of the western hemisphere. This is currently not a
requirement for these individuals when entering the United States via
sea and land POEs from most countries within the western
hemisphere.[Footnote 23] On June 26, 2007, DHS and the Department of
State issued a notice of proposed rulemaking for the implementation of
WHTI at the sea and land environments. According to the proposed rule,
DHS and the Department of State expect to implement WHTI by the summer
of 2008.[Footnote 24] We recently issued a report on the status of WHTI
implementation to the House Homeland Security Committee's Subcommittee
on Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism.[Footnote 25]
SBI is a multiyear program that is to secure the borders and reduce
illegal immigration by installing physical infrastructure and
surveillance technologies along the border, increasing border security
personnel, and ensuring information access to DHS personnel at and
between POEs. A major component of SBI is called SBInet, which is to
integrate personnel, infrastructures, technologies, and rapid response
capabilities. DHS reports that SBInet is to encompass both the northern
and southern land borders, including the Great Lakes, under a unified
border control strategy whereby CBP is to focus on the interdiction of
cross-border violations between and at the land POEs, funneling traffic
to the land POEs. As part of SBI, DHS also plans to focus on interior
enforcement--disrupting and dismantling cross-border crime into the
interior of the United States while locating and removing aliens who
are in the United States illegally. We are currently conducting work
for the House Homeland Security Committee to assess the development and
deployment of SBInet's command, control, and communications systems,
and surveillance and detection systems. We are also reviewing DHS's use
of performance-based services acquisition.
DHS's Enterprise Architecture Is Evolving and Is an Important Tool for
Optimizing the Relationships among Related Programs:
Effective use of an EA is a hallmark of successful private and public
organizations. Generally speaking, an EA connects an organization's
strategic plan with program and system solutions by providing the
operational and technical information needed to guide and constrain
implementable investments in a consistent, coordinated, and integrated
fashion. This information consists of snapshots of both the
enterprise's current ("As Is") environment and its target ("To Be")
environment. These snapshots consist of "views," which are one or more
interdependent and interrelated architecture products (e.g., models,
diagrams, matrices, and text) that provide various representations of
the enterprise. Managed properly, an EA can clarify and help optimize
the interdependencies and relationships among an organization's
business operations and the underlying information technology (IT)
infrastructure and applications that support those operations.
Moreover, when an EA is employed in concert with other important
management controls, such as portfolio-based capital planning and
investment control practices, it can greatly increase the chances that
an organization's operational and IT environments will be configured to
optimize mission performance. Our experience with federal agencies has
shown that investing in IT without defining the investments in the
context of an architecture often results in systems that are
duplicative, not well integrated, and unnecessarily costly to maintain
and interface.[Footnote 26]
DHS issued the initial version of its EA in September 2003 and has
continued to develop it since then, adding more scope and content to
subsequent versions. In 2007, we reported on the third version of DHS's
EA, stating that DHS had partially addressed shortcomings that we had
identified in the previous versions. Since then, the department has
further developed its architecture and issued an updated version. In
doing so, it has continued to address our prior findings and
recommendations.
Prior GAO Reviews of US-VISIT Have Identified Several Areas for
Improvement:
Since 2003, we have issued numerous reports[Footnote 27] highlighting
fundamental challenges that DHS continues to face in defining the
program. For example, we reported that DHS was investing in US-VISIT
without a clearly defined operational context that included explicitly
defined relationships among related border and immigration enforcement
initiatives. In the absence of a DHS-wide operational context, program
officials made assumptions about certain standard issues, such as
capturing 2 fingerprints rather than 10 to identify foreign nationals
subject to US-VISIT.
In December 2006,[Footnote 28] we reported that DHS had launched key
major border security programs, such as WHTI and SBInet, without
adequately defining their relationships to US-VISIT. As a result, we
concluded that DHS faces substantial risk that US-VISIT will not align
with other immigration and border management initiatives and thus not
cost effectively meet mission needs. We recommended that DHS determine
how it expects to align emerging land border security initiatives, such
as WHTI and SBInet, with US-VISIT, and what facility or facility
modifications would be needed at land POEs to ensure that technology
and processes work in harmony. In August 2007,[Footnote 29] we reported
that US-VISIT's strategic plan did not include any of the key elements
associated with effective strategic plans. In particular, the plan did
not explain the relationship between US-VISIT and other border
management programs, such as WHTI, even though both programs involve
the entry of certain foreign individuals at POEs.
Over the last 5 years, we have also reported that DHS had not
economically justified its investment in US-VISIT increments, including
exit. For example, we reported in September 2003,[Footnote 30] that DHS
had not economically justified the initial increment (which was to
include an exit capability at air and sea POEs) on the basis of
benefits, costs, and risks. As a result, we recommended that DHS
determine whether proposed incremental capabilities would produce
mission value commensurate with program costs and risks. Similarly, in
February 2006,[Footnote 31] we reported that while DHS had analyzed the
cost, benefits, and risks for its air and sea exit capability, the
analyses did not demonstrate that the program was producing or would
produce mission value commensurate with expected costs and benefits,
and the costs upon which the analyses were based were not reliable. A
year later, we reported[Footnote 32] that DHS had not adequately
defined and justified its past investment in its air and sea exit
pilots and its land exit demonstration projects. We recommended, among
other things, that planned expenditures be limited for exit pilots and
demonstration projects until such investments were economically
justified.
US-VISIT Strategic Solution Is Not Fully Defined, and No Aspects Were
Economically Justified Prior to Solution Development:
Thus far, DHS has partially defined a US-VISIT strategic solution. On
the basis of available project documentation, we determined that the
strategic solution consists of two primary components: (1) Unique
Identity and (2) exit. Of these, the first is fairly well-defined, the
second is not. Further, although Unique Identity is defined, it was not
economically justified in a timely fashion, and thus DHS proceeded with
its development in the absence of an analytically verifiable basis for
doing so. The absence of a fully defined strategic solution and timely
economic justification hinders informed decision making about the best
course of action for accomplishing strategic program goals and inhibits
the ability to measure performance and promote accountability.
The Unique Identity Component of US-VISIT Strategic Solution Has Been
Defined and Is Under Development:
One of the two major components of the strategic solution is a project
known as Unique Identity. The purpose of this project is to develop and
deploy a capability that establishes a single identity for all
individuals encountered across the immigration and border mission area.
This is to be achieved by capturing the individual's biometrics,
including 10 fingerprints and a digital image, at the earliest possible
interaction with any immigration and border management entity (e.g.,
when the individual is applying for a visa or immigration benefit). It
is also to enable an improved process for determining the risk
associated with allowing entry to an individual or the individual's
eligibility to receive benefits.
Unique Identity consists of the development of three capabilities: (1)
10-print identification, (2) enumeration, and (3) IDENT/IAFIS
interoperability. These capabilities are to be fully deployed by 2010
and as of November 7, 2007, the program office reported obligating
about $65 million, and expending about $22 million,[Footnote 33] to
develop and deploy Unique Identity.
Ten-print Identification:
Ten-print identification is to establish the means for capturing 10
fingerprints and is to enable the other two Unique Identity components,
as well as increase the fingerprint matching accuracy in IDENT.
The first three increments of US-VISIT were deployed using 2-print
identification and verification capability. In July 2005, DHS announced
that it intended to biometrically screen foreign visitors to the United
States based on a fingerprint standard of 10-print flat capture at
enrollment and fewer than 10 fingerprints for verification thereafter.
This work was required for POEs and the Department of State posts that
were participating in the Biometric Visa (BioVisa) program,[Footnote
34] both of which were collecting 2 fingerprints. Transitioning to 10
fingerprints also required modifications to IDENT to accept and process
the larger number of fingerprints.
US-VISIT and other agencies that either had a need or developed
guidance for biometrics (e.g., the FBI, Department of State, and the
National Institute of Standards and Technology [NIST]) established a
user group and began working with industry to determine whether there
were 10-print scanners available that met their respective
requirements, such as maximum size and processing speed. In December
2005, the user group determined that the 10-print scanners available at
that time did not meet these requirements, but that such scanners could
be available within 12 months. In November 2006, the Department of
State, which was able to employ the already available scanners, began
to capture 10 fingerprints, as a pilot, during visa issuance in
overseas embassies and consulates. According to the US-VISIT program
office, the Department of State has deployed 10-print equipment to all
of its visa-issuing posts.
By January 2007, technology improved to the point where US-VISIT was
able to evaluate vendor proposals for 10-print scanners. That same
month, the program office awarded contracts to two scanner vendors that
had developed technically suitable devices. Currently, the program
office is deploying 10-print scanners on a pilot basis to 10 air
locations[Footnote 35] that currently use a 2-print scanner and,
according to a US-VISIT official, it plans to complete this deployment
and begin evaluating the scanners' performance in March 2008. Full
deployment to all locations that currently use a 2-print scanner
(including primary inspection lanes in air and sea POEs and secondary
inspection lanes in land POEs) is scheduled to be completed by December
2008.
Enumeration:
Enumeration is to associate the biometric and biographical data within
IDENT and IAFIS with individuals encountered by immigration and border
management entities and thereby allow for improved risk and eligibility
determinations for individuals entering the United States or applying
to receive benefits. When decisions are made concerning entry or
eligibility, details from these encounters are also to be recorded and
linked to the individual's record. To accomplish this, a unique
identifier, referred to as an enumerator,[Footnote 36] is assigned to
the individual's record, stored within IDENT, and linked to the
fingerprints and the individual's associated biographic information.
Upon subsequent interactions, the individual's identity is to be
biometrically verified and information about the individual, including
past encounters, is to be available for risk and eligibility decisions.
Enumeration begins with the person's initial encounter by immigration
and border management entities. During this encounter, an individual's
biometrics (i.e., 10 fingerprints and digital image) and limited
biographical information are captured. Once this information is
gathered, one of three enumeration services can be provided: identify,
verify, or retrieve encounter details. These services are described
here.
* Identify: IDENT is searched using the biometrics captured from the
individual during the initial encounter to determine whether biometric
records are stored in the system. The individual's fingerprints are
enrolled in IDENT and if no matching biometric record is found, an
enumerator is assigned. If a biometric record is already stored in
IDENT, but without an enumerator, one is assigned. IAFIS is then
searched using the collected biometrics.
* Verify: If a person has already been enumerated, IDENT and IAFIS are
searched and the individual's identity is verified against the stored
biometric records.
* Retrieve Encounter Details: A request can be submitted for details of
a particular previous encounter with the individual. Using the
enumerator, biometric and related biographic information for the
individual is retrieved and provided to aid the risk or eligibility
decision.
The results of these requests are packaged and returned by IDENT, and
may include a list, and types, of the individual's previous encounters.
Thus far, enumeration services have been implemented on a pilot basis.
Specifically, in July 2007, USCIS implemented enumeration services as
part of its Inter-Country Adoption process, which is to allow USCIS
adjudicators and other users to store, retrieve, and update centrally
stored information about inter-country adoption cases. A simplified
diagram of the enumeration process, as utilized by USCIS, and the types
of enumeration requests, can be found in figure 3.
Figure 3: Simplified Diagram of Enumeration as Used by USCIS:
This figure is a diagram of enumeration as used by USCIS.
[See PDF for image]
Source: GAO analysis of US-VISIT data.
[End of figure]
USCIS' Inter-Country Adoption Pilot is part of the USCIS transformation
program, which is to transition USCIS from a form-based to a "person-
centric," or customer account-based, service provider. Successful
transition depends on the capability to uniquely identify and validate
a person's identity in order to track and manage the ongoing
relationship of the person with USCIS. According to the USCIS Chief
Information Officer, USCIS plans to eventually associate all of its
immigration and border management records with the enumerator.[Footnote
37]
However, future implementation of enumeration by other DHS
organizations is uncertain. The US-VISIT Program Director told us that
the use of enumeration has not been mandated across the department. He
added that departmentwide use of the capability could be 5 years away,
but that they are deploying the service to meet USCIS's requirement.
Because of this, program officials stated that a deployment plan for
departmentwide use of enumeration does not exist. Instead, they intend
to provide the capability to DHS entities on an as requested basis.
IDENT/IAFIS Interoperability:
The purpose of IDENT/IAFIS interoperability is to enable DHS and the
FBI to share biometric and related biographic, criminal history, and
immigration history data. To achieve this interoperability, the program
office is working with the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services
Division, which manages IAFIS. DHS and the FBI plan to deploy IDENT/
IAFIS interoperability in three phases, each of which is to build on
the previous phase and to provide increased information sharing. The
three phases are iDSM, Initial Operating Capability (IOC), and Full
Operating Capability.
* The interim Data Sharing Model is a proof-of-concept for long-term
information sharing between DHS and the FBI. Under iDSM, as mentioned
previously, DHS provides the FBI with information on expedited removals
and Category 1 Visa Refusals, and the FBI provides DHS with information
on active Wants and Warrants and Known/Suspected Terrorists. These data
are shared by providing and storing copies of the data (e.g., Visa
Refusals and Wants and Warrants, respectively) in repositories that are
outside of the IDENT and IAFIS systems but that are located at the
other agency's data center. Ownership and control of the agencies' data
subsets are still maintained by the originating agency.
To illustrate, copies of DHS fingerprint images and limited biographic
information, such as name and date/place of birth, are transmitted from
IDENT to the separate IDENT repository located in the DOJ data center.
Once the information has been placed within the repository, it is then
sent to the DOJ/IAFIS shared data fingerprint matchers,[Footnote 38]
which reside within the IAFIS system. Once the information is in the
matchers, minutiae are extracted from the fingerprint images and stored
in the matchers along with the limited biographic information. DOJ/FBI
shares the IAFIS data with DHS in the same way.
When users submit a query, both the shared data matchers (which contain
the copies of the other agency's data) and their own data matchers are
searched for potential hits. For example, when an IDENT user submits a
query, both the IDENT shared data matchers that contain copies of the
FBI's Wants and Warrants and the Known/Suspected Terrorists data, and
the IDENT matchers that contain DHS's biometric and biographical data
are searched for biometric matches. (See fig. 4 for a simplified
diagram of the iDSM architecture.)
The iDSM was deployed September 3, 2006, and, according to the US-VISIT
program office, is operating with the Boston Police Department, the
Dallas County (TX) Sheriff, the Harris County (TX) Sheriff, and the
Office of Personnel Management.
Figure 4: Simplified Diagram of iDSM Architecture:
This figure is a diagram of iDSM architecture.
[See PDF for image]
Source: GAO analysis of US-VISIT data.
[End of figure]
* Initial Operating Capability is to expand the data sets to be shared
between IDENT and IAFIS. In addition to the data shared as part of
iDSM, DHS is to also share its entire recidivist repository, USCIS
benefits data, credentialing information, additional information from
the BioVisa and BCC programs, DHS watchlist data, and enrollment/
enumeration and encounter data. In turn, the FBI is to share 55 million
records in the Criminal Master File, as well as latent print data.
In addition, IOC is to modify the architecture for sharing the expanded
set of IDENT and IAFIS data. Under IOC, the data shared between IDENT
and IAFIS as part of iDSM will continue to be shared as it is under the
iDSM architecture (i.e., copies of the shared data are sent to separate
repositories and data matchers). In addition, DHS and the FBI are to
share the additional data sets (e.g., recidivist repository and
Criminal Master File, respectively) by providing direct access to the
actual fingerprint data (as opposed to copies in the iDSM architecture)
stored in each other's fingerprint matchers. Similar to iDSM, all
respective matchers are to be searched as part of a single query. To
illustrate, when an IDENT user submits a biometric search query, three
matchers are searched: (1) the IDENT shared data matchers that contain
copies of the FBI's Wants and Warrants and the Known/Suspected
Terrorists data, (2) the IDENT matchers that contain DHS's biometric
data, and (3) the IAFIS matchers that contain the Criminal Master File
and latent print data. Similar data matchers are searched for an IAFIS
user query, except that the IDENT shared database is also searched
because it includes DHS watchlist data, in addition to the IAFIS shared
data. According to the US-VISIT Program Director, IOC is planned for
September 2008. (See fig. 5 for a simplified diagram of the proposed
IOC architecture.)
Figure 5: Simplified Diagram of IOC Architecture:
This figure is a flowchart of IOC architecture.
[See PDF for image]
Source: GAO analysis of US-VISIT data.
[End of figure]
* Full Operating Capability refers to the end state of interoperability
between IDENT and IAFIS. It is to provide for interoperability and real-
time data sharing of an expanded set of biographic data for criminal
and civil searches. However, the exact information to be shared by DHS
and the FBI has not yet been determined. Full Operating Capability is
planned for February 2010.
The Exit Component of US-VISIT Strategic Solution Has Not Been
Adequately Defined:
Despite long-standing legislative requirements and a sizeable
investment of time and resources, DHS has yet to clearly define the
second major component of its strategic solution--exit. Moreover, while
DHS has established milestones for several key air exit activities,
such as fully implementing an air exit capability by the end of 2008,
the program office has not provided any verifiable analysis and
documentation that support these milestones, thus calling into question
their reliability. According to DHS officials, the current state of
exit capabilities owes largely to the fact that an exit capability is
more challenging to implement than entry. Without an operationally
effective exit capability, US-VISIT cannot meet its strategic goals,
and the integrity of the nation's immigration system is limited.
Further, the absence of any defined exit solution, including reliable
milestones, means that this situation is not likely to change in the
near future.
As mentioned earlier, the legislative underpinnings for an exit
capability were established in 1996.[Footnote 39] In response, DHS
allocated about $260 million for exit-related efforts between 2003 and
2007, and the program office reports that it expended about $157
million. In particular, the program office conducted various exit
pilots and demonstration projects at air, sea, and land POEs.
Throughout this period, we reported on the limitations in how these
activities were planned, defined, and justified. Most recently, we
reported in August 2007[Footnote 40] that the lack of a well-defined
and justified exit solution risks repeating failed and costly past exit
efforts. We further reported that no exit program plans were available
that defined what will be done, by what entities, and at what cost to
define, acquire, deliver, deploy, and operate this capability,
including plans describing expected system capabilities, defining
measurable outcomes (benefits and results), identifying key stakeholder
(e.g., airlines) roles/responsibilities and buy-in, and coordinating
and aligning with related programs.
DHS has recently reaffirmed its commitment to implementing an exit
solution and reconstituted its efforts. In particular, DHS reports that
it will focus first on a biometric air exit solution by leveraging
existing commercial airlines processes. However, the means by which
this integration is to be accomplished has yet to be defined and
published. Currently, DHS plans to issue a Notice of Proposed Rule
Making for establishing a biometric exit verification process at
commercial international air exit points.
To date, we have yet to receive further details on the proposed process
beyond a high-level schedule of key milestones, which includes issuing
the proposed and final rules by December 2007 and June 2008,
respectively, and fully implementing the air exit solution by December
2008. However, these milestones are not supported by the kind of
verifiable analysis and documentation that is associated with reliably
derived program schedules, such as (1) decomposition of the program
into a work breakdown structure; (2) sequencing, integration, and
resourcing of each work element in the work breakdown structure; and
(3) identification of the critical path through the schedule of linked
work elements. As a result, the reliability of the milestones remains
questionable. Further, the milestones are dependent on several major
unknowns. For example, until the proposed rule is issued and comments
are received, DHS will not know the full scope and nature of any
airline concerns and challenges, which may affect the content of the
final rule; this final rule will in turn dictate what the airlines will
be required to do and thus what their respective time lines will be for
implementing their parts of the exit solution. Exacerbating this lack
of reliability with the reported air exit milestones is the fact that
the program office has already missed several near-term milestones. For
example, it was to complete an alternatives analysis, the business
requirements, and a concept of operations by August 2007, as planned.
As of November 2007, the program office reported that these documents
had yet to be approved. Further, it did not meet the December 2007 date
for issuing the proposed rule.[Footnote 41]
With regard to sea and land exit, a strategic solution is even less
defined and thus more uncertain. While DHS reports that it will develop
and deploy a sea exit capability that emulates its air exit solution,
no plans are available that define what entities are to be involved,
how much the solution will cost, or when it will be deployed. For land,
DHS has not determined a time frame or cost estimates for even
initiating a land exit solution. In lieu of deploying this capability,
DHS plans to initially explore options for expanding the collection of
biographic data on travelers crossing the borders. Specifically, the
then-acting US-VISIT Director of Program Integration and Mission
Services told us that US-VISIT is building relationships with Canada to
foster future possibilities of sharing border operation information.
Further, while the Comprehensive Exit Charter notes that, as biometric
scanning technology develops and becomes more sophisticated, DHS will
consider land exit options that provide for biometric capture without
severely impacting the flow of travel across the border, but no further
details are available.
The longer the department goes without an exit capability, the more its
ability to effectively and efficiently perform its border security and
immigration enforcement missions may suffer. Without exit data, for
example, DHS cannot ensure the integrity of the immigration system by
identifying and removing those people who have overstayed their
original period of admission--a stated goal of US-VISIT.
DHS Did Not Economically Justify Investing in Unique Identity in a
Timely Fashion:
The decision to invest in any system should be based on reliable
analyses of estimated system costs and expected benefits over the life
of the investment. Given the importance of these analyses to informing
the decision-making process, they should be completed prior to
selecting and investing in a particular solution to ensure that the
solution selected achieves the expected performance goals with the
lowest life cycle costs and the least risk. This is consistent with
Office of Management and Budget guidance, which states that individual
increments of major systems are to be individually supported by
analyses of benefits, cost, and risk.[Footnote 42] DHS has also issued
guidance recognizing the importance of completing such economic
analyses early in a project's planning stage to support informed
decision making about what projects should be approved and
funded.[Footnote 43]
While DHS developed a cost-benefit analysis for Unique Identity, the
analysis was completed after system development activities were well
under way. Specifically, DHS completed an analysis for Unique Identity
in August 2006, but the analysis did not address the alternative
solution that DHS ultimately selected and is now being developed.
Subsequent to the completion of the August 2006 analysis, the program
office and the FBI elected to pursue a hybrid alternative solution that
was not included in the initial analysis, in part to address the FBI's
interest in maintaining control over FBI data to be shared with IDENT.
According to program officials, when the hybrid solution was developed,
they considered the degree of technology change required for the hybrid
and, based on the potential changes, determined that any increased cost
would be marginal. However, they could not provide any documented
evidence to support this determination.
Subsequently, in October 2007, DHS issued a revised analysis that
included the alternative solution that is being pursued. However, this
analysis was about 14 months after the initial phase of Unique Identity
was deployed and after about $65 million was obligated, and $22 million
was expended. According to program officials, the revised analysis
confirmed that its costs and benefits were roughly equivalent to the
original analysis and affirmed the program's decision to select and
build this alternative. However, program officials agreed that given
that the solution has been selected and is being developed, the value
of such an "after-the-fact" analysis in informing investment decision
making is lost. By following such a practice, DHS did not know whether
it was pursuing the most cost effective investment option until after
it had obligated tens of millions of dollars.
In addition, DHS has yet to finalize a cost-benefit analysis for a
comprehensive exit solution. According to program officials, the
department intends to finalize such an analysis for its air exit
solution as part of the Notice of Proposed Rule Making process.
However, it is unclear if and when an analysis will be completed for
the sea and land solutions.
DHS Continues to Focus on Fingerprints as Its Primary Biometric
Technology:
DHS considered various biometric technologies, including fingerprints,
facial, and iris technologies, and continues to use fingerprints as its
foundational biometric. According to NIST and DHS, fingerprint
technology is currently the most accurate form of biometric
identification for matching one biometric record against many such
records, which is a key requirement of US-VISIT. Notwithstanding this
focus on fingerprints, the program office continues to participate in
and review research efforts examining other forms of biometrics and how
those technologies might be applied to US-VISIT. In recognition that
one of these technologies may prove viable, the program office modified
IDENT to allow an additional mode of biometric comparison if such
technology becomes feasible.
DHS Considered Various Biometric Technologies, Focusing on Fingerprints
as Its Foundational Biometric:
While DHS has considered various biometric technologies, including
fingerprints, facial, and iris technologies, it maintains its focus on
fingerprints as its foundational biometric technology for two primary
reasons. First, fingerprint technology is currently the most accurate
form of biometric identification for matching one biometric record
against many. According to the Chief of NIST's Information Access
Division, who is responsible for overseeing biometric technology
research, no biometric technology, other than fingerprints, has been
demonstrated operationally, or in independent testing, to automatically
and accurately identify one-to-many matching on US-VISIT sized
populations. Such matching is performed by IDENT, which contains
fingerprints collected from a number of sources.[Footnote 44] Second,
focusing on fingerprint technology provides DHS with access to the
FBI's biometric database, known as IAFIS.
However, IDENT's use of a 2-print model--one from the left index finger
and one from the right index finger--has been identified as a major
barrier for achieving interoperability with IAFIS, which is a 10-print
system. Interoperability between IDENT and IAFIS provides DHS and US-
VISIT access to the largest criminal biometric database in the world,
the Criminal Master File, which, as mentioned previously, stores over
50 million sets of 10 rolled fingerprints and corresponding criminal
history information submitted by law enforcement agencies. IAFIS also
contains a Civil Subject Index Master File, which stores noncriminal
fingerprints (e.g., fingerprints of military, government, or authorized
nongovernment personnel), and an Unsolved Latent File, which contains
latent fingerprint[Footnote 45] images found at crime scenes. In May
2007, DHS designated IDENT as the DHS biometric repository and
committed to moving it to 10 fingerprints in order to enhance US-
VISIT's ability to identify and verify a person's identity. According
to NIST officials, this is because a system's accuracy increases as a
greater number of fingerprints are used.
The environment in which US-VISIT operates limits the effectiveness of
other biometric technology options. A program official who works with
biometrics told us that one of the limitations of capturing high-
quality photographs for facial recognition is that the POE environment
cannot be modified to, for example, change the background in the photos
of individuals. Specifically, a backdrop for taking photos cannot be
placed in a POE because it will restrict the CBP officers' view of the
processing area.
Other Biometric Technologies Remain a Future Option:
Although DHS is using fingerprints as its primary biometric identifier,
it has ongoing biometric research efforts. For example, the program
office works with academic institutions, such as the Center for
Identification Technology Research at West Virginia University, to
explore the rapidly growing area of biometric identification
technology. Further, the program office has contracted with NIST to
conduct research and analysis on biometric capture devices, systems,
and procedures in a range of operational environments. In addition, a
program office representative chairs the DHS Biometrics Coordination
Group, which facilitates DHS intradepartmental planning and
coordination for biometrics research, development, testing, and
evaluation. As part of this, the Research and Development, Testing and
Evaluation Working Group within the Biometrics Coordination Group
gathers research and development requirements and shares them with
other groups, such as the Human Factors Division within the DHS Science
and Technology Directorate and the National Science and Technology
Council Subcommittee on Biometrics and Identity Management.
In addition, program officials stated that US-VISIT is beginning to
evaluate how to add the capability to process multiple types of
biometrics--also known as multimodal biometrics--in the next 3-5 years.
Further, program officials stated that IDENT has been modified to add
the capacity and capability to eventually receive and match biometric
data from technologies other than fingerprints, should another type of
biometric mature to where it can be effectively used. Program officials
also stated that US-VISIT plans to conduct prototype work on multimodal
biometric data in order to increase the accuracy and efficiency of
matches. Additional details about biometric technologies are in
appendix III.
Efforts to Define, Manage, and Coordinate Relationships among US-VISIT
and Other Border Security Programs Are Evolving:
Because optimizing an organization's ability to achieve its strategic
goals and outcomes depends in part on its success in managing the
interdependencies among related programs, it is essential that DHS
define, manage, and coordinate its border screening programs in a way
that embodies collaboration practices that our research shows are
important to maximizing organizational performance and achieving
organizational goals and outcomes. While DHS has established a few
mechanisms for defining and managing related immigration and border
programs, including US-VISIT, WHTI, and SBInet, and begun to implement
key collaboration practices, these activities are still evolving. Going
forward, it is important that DHS embrace and maximize the use of key
organizational collaboration practices to effectively manage the
relationships among these programs. Absent such collaboration, DHS
risks potential overlap, duplication, and inconsistency across the
programs, which could limit effective and efficient organizational
performance and results.
As we have previously reported,[Footnote 46] organizational
collaboration can be viewed as any joint activity that is aimed at
producing more public value than could be produced when programs or
organizations act alone. Among other things, our research shows that
effective collaboration depends on the use of certain collaboration
practices. These practices include:
* establishing common outcomes: defining and articulating a shared or
common outcome(s) or purpose(s) that organizations or programs are
mutually seeking to achieve and that are consistent with their
respective goals and missions;
* establishing mutually reinforcing or joint strategies: creating
strategies that work in concert with those of their partner
organizations or programs, or that are joint in nature;
* leveraging resources: identifying the human, technological, physical,
and financial resources needed to initiate or sustain the collaborative
effort;
* agreeing on roles and responsibilities: working together to define
and agree on respective roles and responsibilities, including how the
collaboration efforts will be led;
* establishing a compatible means to operate across organizational
boundaries: creating compatible standards, policies, procedures, and
data systems that will be used in the collaborative effort; and:
* developing mechanisms to monitor, evaluate, and report on results:
putting in place the means to monitor, evaluate, and report on the
collaborative effort to identify areas for improvement.
Most of these practices are reflected to some degree in department-
level mechanisms that are in place and are evolving, such as the DHS EA
and the Screening Coordination Office (SCO). Similarly, limited program-
to-program collaboration efforts are occurring. As these efforts
continue to evolve, it is important to examine the expanded use of
these collaboration practices. DHS's implementation of each of the
practices, along with opportunities for their expanded use, is
discussed below.
Establishing a Common Outcome:
DHS's strategic plan and EA (the department's blueprint for
implementing its strategic plan), define outcomes for securing our
nation's border that are shared by US-VISIT, WHTI, and SBInet. In
particular, one of the goals in the department's strategic plan is to
detect, deter, and mitigate threats to our homeland, and one of its
objectives for achieving this goal is to secure our borders against
terrorists, the means of terrorism, illegal drugs, and other illegal
activity. US-VISIT, WHTI, and SBInet program documentation explicitly
link their programs to this common goal and objective. For example, one
of US-VISIT's goals is to enhance the security of U.S. citizens and
visitors and one way it seeks to achieve this is by matching foreign
nationals' biometrics against watch lists, thereby preventing those
visitors who may pose a threat from entering the country.
In addition, the EA's draft transition plan groups programs, including
US-VISIT and WHTI, that have a common purpose (namely, assessing the
risk and determining the eligibility of persons seeking to enter the
United States, or obtain a benefit or credential)[Footnote 47] into a
portfolio of screening programs.[Footnote 48] According to the DHS
Chief Architect, SBInet will be included in the screening/watchlist
portfolio and reflected in the department's next EA transition plan.
Notwithstanding DHS's efforts to link the three programs to common
strategic outcomes, other shared aspects of the programs are not as
well-established. For example, the EA does not define how these
programs are expected to share common services and data. Specifically,
it does not yet include an inventory of services to be provided by each
program such as the biometric services that US-VISIT provides in
support of the department. Similarly, it does not include a complete
inventory of DHS data assets relevant to the screening
programs.[Footnote 49] For example, while it identifies and describes
20 data assets, including IDENT and ADIS, the EA does not include all
of the biographic data assets that support identity management and
screening processes, such as SEVIS, which ICE uses to manage and
monitor the stay of foreign students in the United States.
Moreover, program-to-program level activities aimed at identifying and
pursuing common strategic outcomes are not apparent. Specifically,
while US-VISIT program officials told us that potential relationships
with other immigration and border management programs, including WHTI
and SBInet, exist, they have not yet been defined. With regard to WHTI
in particular, a program official said that the program office intends
to work with the WHTI program office to implement radio-frequency
identification (RFID) technology[Footnote 50] for US-VISIT land exit,
but efforts for accomplishing this have yet to go beyond providing the
WHTI program office with the results of US-VISIT's land exit RFID
"proof-of-concept" pilot projects, as well as the associated
hardware.[Footnote 51] Similarly for SBInet, while the business needs
assessment for US-VISIT's mobile biometric link project[Footnote 52]
identifies SBInet as a potential user of this capability, the
assessment states that SBInet is to develop a solution to enable border
patrol agents to process biographic and biometric information in remote
border areas. According to US-VISIT officials, the US-VISIT/SBInet
relationships have not yet been defined.
Establishing Mutually Reinforcing or Joint Strategies:
On July 31, 2006, the DHS Secretary established SCO to, among other
things, coordinate and integrate the department's screening and
credentialing efforts and create unified screening standards and
policies. In July 2007, SCO issued a framework to help ensure the
integration and alignment of screening programs. In short, the
framework is to help identify opportunities for convergence and synergy
among the related programs, as well as improvements in efficiency and
mission effectiveness by providing a common method or process for the
collection and use of data across these programs. According to the
coordination office, the framework will eventually include a transition
plan, including major activities, milestones, and associated time lines
and costs. The SCO Associate Director told us that a draft transition
plan is currently being reviewed within the department. The SCO is also
the portfolio manager for the EA's screening/watchlist portfolio and,
as such, works closely with the DHS Enterprise Architecture
Board[Footnote 53] (EAB) to ensure that its investments (e.g., those
related to screening activities) are aligned with the EA and that the
investments' resources are shared and effectively leveraged. However,
as mentioned above, the EA is still evolving and does not define key
aspects of the program's relationships and dependencies. Moreover, we
have previously reported that DHS processes for ensuring that programs
are aligned with its EA are not grounded in an explicit risk-based
methodology and associated compliance criteria.
Leveraging Resources:
In May 2007, the DHS Chief Information Officer and the SCO Director
jointly issued a memo that, among other things, directed all programs
that collect and use fingerprints when determining an individual's
eligibility for entry or benefits to use US-VISIT's IDENT. In
particular, programs were directed to provide the US-VISIT program
office with their respective requirements for biometric vetting and
storage. In doing so, DHS's aim is to leverage its IDENT resource as a
shared capability or service for all DHS programs. Nevertheless, it is
not clear that other opportunities to leverage resources across US-
VISIT, WHTI, and SBInet are being exploited because doing so depends in
large part on defining program-to-program relationships and plans for
implementing SCO's screening framework, which have yet to be fully
defined.
Agreeing on Roles and Responsibilities:
Certain department-level roles and responsibilities have been defined
and agreed upon. As mentioned above, for example, SCO is responsible
for coordinating the department's screening and credentialing programs
and creating unified screening standards and policies, and has
developed a framework and, according to the SCO Associate Director, a
draft transition plan for achieving this. Also, the EAB is responsible
for ensuring that DHS investments are aligned with the department's EA
and that the investments' resources are shared and leveraged. However,
as also mentioned above, program-level relationships, which would
include roles and responsibilities for implementing the framework and
interacting with related programs, have yet to be defined.
Establishing Compatible Policies, Procedures, and Other Means to
Operate Across Organizational Boundaries:
The department has established several mechanisms for facilitating how
the US-VISIT, WHTI, and SBInet programs interact and operate with one
another. For example, the DHS EA serves as a common frame of reference
for programs to map to in an effort to minimize duplication and promote
capability, and DHS's process for determining program alignment is
intended to facilitate this. To illustrate, documentation from US-
VISIT's most recent EA alignment review shows that the DHS Enterprise
Architecture Center of Excellence[Footnote 54] raised questions about
the program's efforts to coordinate capabilities with other DHS
programs, including SBInet. However, the EA is still evolving as a
means for managing related programs, such as US-VISIT, WHTI, and
SBInet. For example, US-VISIT's representation in the EA business
model--which associates the department's business functions with the
organizations that support and/or implement them--does not align US-
VISIT with certain business functions (e.g., verify identity and
establish identity) that the program office identifies as a critical
part of its mission. Additionally, the EA does not associate US-VISIT
with all the data systems that it owns and manages, and it does not
define all system interfaces for IDENT. For example, the EA identifies
ADIS and IDENT as being owned by CBP and ICE, respectively, even though
both systems are owned by the US-VISIT program office. Also, it does
not identify the interface between IDENT and GES, even though US-VISIT
officials confirm that the interface exists and is operating. According
to the DHS Chief Architect, the next version of the EA is to address
such inaccuracies.
Another mechanism to support interaction across programs is the SCO,
which provides a means to coordinate and integrate the department's
screening and credentialing activities, including a framework that
provides for having a common method or process for collecting and using
data. In addition, the coordination office provides other means for
coordinating screening programs, such as weekly meetings with other
programs. Specifically, SCO sponsors, and US-VISIT participates in, a
weekly meeting to discuss WHTI implementation. According to the SCO
Director, SCO also provides budget formulation and policy development
advice to screening/watchlist portfolio programs to help limit overlap
and redundancies and to leverage resources among programs.
At the program level, the US-VISIT program office has established a
standard protocol for sending biometric information to and from IDENT
and has developed interface control agreements to describe how the
protocol will be used with other organizations.
Developing Mechanisms to Monitor, Evaluate, and Report on Results:
SCO, through the EA draft transition plan, has developed performance
indicators for the screening/watchlist portfolio. Such indicators
include reducing the number of false positives from screening
operations and increasing the use of technology to verify legitimacy of
credentials. However, the data to be collected to implement such
measures have not been defined.
Conclusions:
The success of US-VISIT depends in large part on how well the program
is defined, economically justified, and coordinated with related
immigration and border management programs. While DHS has addressed
each of these areas to some degree, none have been performed in a
manner that fully reflects relevant federal guidance and related best
practices, even though the program is now into its sixth year of
activity, and more than a billion dollars has been invested in it. Of
particular concern is that, after 5 years and tens of millions of
dollars, DHS has yet to fully define and economically justify a
comprehensive exit capability, including a plan describing what the
capability will be, and how, when, and at what cost it will be
delivered. Further, the Unique Identity component of the US-VISIT
solution was not economically justified in a timely fashion to
determine whether it was the most cost-effective solution before
committing tens of millions of dollars. Therefore, DHS continues to
lack a clear and fully defined strategic direction for how it will
deliver on all its strategic program goals, and it continues to invest
in the program without first knowing that its decision will produce
cost effective and affordable results.
To DHS's credit, it has appropriately selected fingerprints as the
biometric of choice for US-VISIT. Further, it has taken positive steps
to coordinate US-VISIT with related immigration and border management
programs, which provide the department opportunities to better reflect
important collaboration practices.
Recommendations for Executive Action:
To ensure that US-VISIT's strategic solution, including a comprehensive
exit solution, is better defined, economically justified, and
coordinated, we recommend that the Secretary of Homeland Security take
the following two actions:
* Direct the Undersecretary for National Protection and Programs to
have the US-VISIT Program Director:
- develop a plan for a comprehensive exit capability, which includes,
at a minimum, a description of the capability to be deployed, the cost
of developing, deploying and operating the capability, identification
of key stakeholders and their respective roles and responsibilities,
key milestones, and measurable performance indicators; and:
- develop an analysis of costs, benefits, and risks for proposed exit
solutions before large sums of money are committed on those solutions,
and use the analysis in selecting the final solution.
* Direct the appropriate DHS parties involved in defining, managing,
and coordinating relationships across the department's border and
immigration management programs to address the program collaboration
shortcomings identified in this report, such as fully defining the
relationships between US-VISIT and other immigration and border
management programs and, in doing so, to employ the collaboration
practices discussed in this report.
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:
In written comments on a draft of this report, signed by the Director,
Departmental GAO/Office of Inspector General Liaison and reprinted in
appendix IV, the department stated that it generally agreed with our
observations and concurred with our recommendations.
In addition, the department stated that it has initiated actions to
implement our recommendations. With respect to our recommendation to
develop a plan and cost-benefit analysis for a comprehensive exit
capability, DHS stated that the department remains committed to
deploying an air exit solution by December 2008 and has completed a
cost-benefit analysis for air and sea exit implementation. It is
important that this cost-benefit analysis be used in selecting the
final exit solution to ensure that the solution selected achieves the
expected performance goals with the lowest life cycle costs and the
least risk.
Regarding our recommendation to define, manage, and coordinate
relationships across the department's border and immigration management
programs, DHS stated that US-VISIT, along with appropriate parties, is
developing and implementing an internal DHS governance board, which
will include senior executives from programs such as WHTI and SBI, and
which will provide a forum for collaboration and communication about
the program. DHS also noted that, as part of its strategic planning
efforts, US-VISIT solicits input from stakeholders such as DHS
headquarters, CBP, ICE, and other federal agencies. DHS also stated
that US-VISIT is integrally involved in departmental working groups on
WHTI, SBI, and other immigration reform efforts. We support DHS's
efforts in this area and emphasize the need for DHS to continue to
implement the collaboration practices discussed in this report.
DHS also provided technical comments, which we have incorporated into
this report as appropriate.
As we agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce the
contents of this report earlier, we plan no further distribution of it
until 30 days from the date of this letter. We will then send copies of
this report to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Senate and House
Appropriations Committees and other Senate and House committees and
subcommittees that have authorization and oversight responsibilities
for homeland security. We will also send copies to the Secretary of
Homeland Security and the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget. We will also make copies available to others upon request. In
addition, this report will be available at no charge on the GAO Web
site at [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov].
Should you or your offices have any questions on matters discussed in
this report, please contact me at (202) 512-6222 or at
willemssenj@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of Congressional
Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this
report. Key contributors to this report are listed in appendix V.
Signed by:
Joel C. Willemssen:
Managing Director, Information Technology Issues:
[End of section]
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology:
Our objectives were to determine: (1) whether the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) has defined a strategic solution for meeting
U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) goals
and whether the solution has been economically justified; (2) the
biometric technology options DHS has considered and the basis for the
selected options; and (3) DHS's efforts to define, manage, and
coordinate the relationships between US-VISIT and other immigration and
border management programs.
To determine whether DHS has defined a strategic solution, we reviewed
key program documentation, such as the US-VISIT strategic plan and
implementation blueprint, program master schedule, program road map,
Unique Identity project documentation (e.g., concept of operations,
business requirements, system architectures, work breakdown structures,
and project plans), and a high-level schedule for air exit. In doing
so, we focused on determining such key factors as what program
activities were planned, when and how they were to be accomplished,
what resources were needed to accomplish them, and how they related to
the program's strategic goals. We also interviewed program office
officials and the Under Secretary for National Protection and Programs
Directorate to obtain their views on the nature, content, and timing of
the strategic solution. In cases where we were told of US-VISIT
activities and capabilities that were not included in program
documentation, we sought clarifications and plans for providing missing
information. We also met with representatives from the U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration Services (USCIS) to understand how that agency was
implementing enumeration services.
To determine whether the strategic solution had been economically
justified, we requested documentation of any economic analyses that had
been developed. We received and reviewed the Unique Identity cost-
benefit analysis, dated August 2006, and compared it with key Office of
Management and Budget criteria.[Footnote 55] However, a new analysis
was completed in October 2007 and provided to us on November 30, 2007.
We did not evaluate this analysis because it was not germane to the
findings of this report. However, we interviewed program officials to
understand the purpose and timing of this revised cost-benefit
analysis.
To examine the biometric technology options DHS has considered and the
basis for its selected option, we reviewed documentation from DHS, US-
VISIT, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the
Department of Justice. In particular, we reviewed the Homeland Security
Council's National Strategy for Homeland Security, DHS's Biometric
Coordination Group charter, US-VISIT's Unique Identity Concept of
Operations, NIST's 2003 Fingerprint Vendor Technology Evaluation, and a
2003 report to the Congress on the "Use of Technology Standards and
Interoperable Databases With Machine-Readable, Tamper-Resistant Travel
Documents," which was submitted by NIST, the Attorney General, and the
Secretary of State. We also reviewed the Department of Justice's
Inspector General's "Follow-up Review of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation's Progress Toward Biometric Interoperability Between the
Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System and the
Automated Biometric Identification System." To understand how the
information in these documents pertained to the program's biometric
development efforts, we interviewed knowledgeable officials from the
program office, DHS's Science & Technology Directorate, USCIS, and
NIST. We also reviewed our past work on the use of biometrics in border
security.[Footnote 56] Finally, we analyzed relevant laws related to
the requirements for US-VISIT's use of biometrics, including the
Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools
Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT
Act) and Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002.
To identify DHS's efforts to define, manage, and coordinate the
relationship between US-VISIT and other immigration and border
management programs, we identified department and program-level efforts
taken to coordinate US-VISIT with these programs. In particular, we
reviewed the latest version of the DHS enterprise architecture[Footnote
57] to determine the extent to which it identifies the relationships
between these programs and interviewed DHS's Chief Architect to
determine how the architecture is used to manage these relationships.
We also reviewed DHS strategic planning documents, as well as DHS's
Screening Coordination Office's Credentialing Framework. We interviewed
representatives of the Screening Coordination Office to determine what
actions are being taken to coordinate screening programs.
We then compared actions taken with selected key practices that our
research has found can enhance and sustain agencies' collaborative
efforts,[Footnote 58] focusing on those practices that were
particularly relevant and applicable to our objective. These practices
include the following:
* establishing common outcomes;
* establishing mutually reinforcing or joint strategies;
* leveraging resources;
* agreeing on roles and responsibilities;
* establishing a compatible means to operate across organizational
boundaries; and:
* developing mechanisms to monitor, evaluate, and report on results.
To assess data reliability, we reviewed quality and access controls of
the systems used to generate the data. We also reviewed related program
documentation to substantiate data provided in interviews with
knowledgeable agency officials. We have also made appropriate
attribution indicating the data's sources. When we found data to be
unreliable or did not assess the data's reliability, we annotated the
data as such.
We conducted our work at DHS headquarters offices in Washington, D.C.,
the US-VISIT Program Office in Rosslyn, Virginia, and NIST headquarters
offices in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Our work was conducted from January
2007 through January 2008 in accordance with generally accepted
government auditing standards.
[End of section]
Appendix II: Overview of Legislative Underpinnings for the US-VISIT
Program:
A series of federal statutes have provided a framework for the
strategic focus of the US-VISIT program. The first of these statutes
dates back to more than a decade ago, and the latest law was passed in
2007. The statutes are summarized here.
The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of
1996[Footnote 59] required the development of an automated entry and
exit control system to collect a record of departure for every alien
departing the United States and then match the record of departure with
the record of the alien's arrival in the United States; make it
possible, through online searching procedures, to identify
nonimmigrants who remain in the country beyond the authorized period;
and integrate the overstay information into appropriate databases of
the former Immigration and Naturalization Service[Footnote 60] and the
Department of State, including those used at air, sea, and land ports
of entry (POE) and at consular offices. The system was to be developed
by September 30, 1998; however, the act was amended to change this
deadline to October 15, 1998,[Footnote 61] and was amended again to
change the deadline for land border POEs and seaports to March 30,
2001.[Footnote 62]
The Immigration and Naturalization Service Data Management Improvement
Act of 2000[Footnote 63] replaced the 1996 statute in its entirety.
Specifically, the act required an electronic system that would provide
access to and integrate alien arrival and departure data that are
authorized or required to be created or collected under law, are in an
electronic format, and are in a database of the Department of Justice
or the Department of State, including those created or used at POEs and
at consular offices. The act specifically provided that it not be
construed to permit the imposition of any new documentary or data
collection requirements on any person for the purpose of satisfying its
provisions, but it further provided that it also not be construed to
reduce or curtail any authority of the Attorney General (now Secretary
of Homeland Security)[Footnote 64] or Secretary of State under any
other provision of law. The integrated entry and exit data system was
to be implemented at airports and seaports by December 31, 2003, at the
50 busiest land POEs by December 31, 2004, and at all remaining POEs by
December 31, 2005.
The act also required that the system use available data to produce an
annual report of arriving and departing aliens by country of
nationality, classification as an immigrant or nonimmigrant, and
timeliness of departure from the United States. The system was to match
an alien's available arrival data with the alien's available departure
data, assist in the identification of possible overstays, and use
available alien arrival and departure data for annual reports to the
Congress. These reports were to include the number of aliens for whom
departure data was collected during the reporting period, with an
accounting by country of nationality; the number of departing aliens
whose departure data was successfully matched to the alien's arrival
data, with an accounting by country of nationality and classification
as an immigrant or nonimmigrant; the number of aliens who arrived
pursuant to a nonimmigrant visa, or as a visitor under the Visa Waiver
Program, for whom no matching departure data have been obtained as of
the end of the alien's authorized period of stay, with an accounting by
country of nationality and date of arrival in the United States; and
the number of identified overstays, with an accounting by country of
nationality.
The USA PATRIOT Act of 2001[Footnote 65] provided that, in developing
the integrated entry and exit data system, the Secretary of Homeland
Security and Secretary of State were to focus particularly on the
utilization of biometric technology and the development of tamper-
resistant documents readable at POEs. It also required that the system
be able to interface with law enforcement databases for use by federal
law enforcement to identify and detain individuals who pose a threat to
the national security of the United States.
The USA PATRIOT Act also required by October 26, 2003, the development
and certification of a technology standard, including appropriate
biometric identifier standards, that could be used to verify the
identity of persons applying for a U.S. visa or persons seeking to
enter the United States pursuant to a visa for the purposes of
conducting background checks, confirming identity, and ensuring that a
person has not received a visa under a different name. This technology
standard was to be the technological basis for a cross-agency, cross-
platform electronic system that is a cost-effective, efficient, fully
interoperable means to share law enforcement and intelligence
information necessary to confirm the identity of persons applying for a
U.S. visa or persons seeking to enter the United States pursuant to a
visa. This electronic system was to be readily and easily accessible to
consular officers, border inspection agents, and law enforcement and
intelligence officers responsible for investigation or identification
of aliens admitted to the United States pursuant to a visa. Every 2
years beginning on April 26, 2003, the Secretary of Homeland Security
and the Secretary of State were to jointly report to the Congress on
the development, implementation, efficacy, and privacy implications of
the technology standard and electronic database system.
The Visa Waiver Permanent Program Act[Footnote 66] required DHS to
develop and implement a fully automated system to control entry and
exit of aliens at airports and seaports who enter the United States
under the Visa Waiver Program. The act also required that, by October
1, 2002, inspectors at the POEs have access to Department of State and
DHS information to determine whether an alien is eligible to be
admitted into the United States or to receive a visa. Further, the act
required that visa waiver applicants be checked against watch list
systems, and, that by October 1, 2003, aliens applying for a visa
waiver have a machine-readable passport.[Footnote 67] The act was
subsequently amended to require, not later than August 3, 2008, an exit
system using biometric information and recording the departure on a
flight leaving the United States of every alien participating in the
Visa Waiver Program.[Footnote 68]
The Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002[Footnote
69] required that, in developing the integrated entry and exit data
system for the POEs, the Secretary of Homeland Security and Secretary
of State implement, fund, and use the technology standard required by
the USA PATRIOT Act at U.S. POEs and at consular posts abroad. The act
amended the USA PATRIOT Act to move up the date for the development and
certification of the technology standard to January 26, 2003, and moved
up the date for the biannual reports to the Congress on the technology
standard to October 26, 2002. The 2002 act also required the Secretary
of Homeland Security and Secretary of State to establish a database
containing the arrival and departure data from machine-readable visas,
passports, and other travel and entry documents possessed by aliens and
make interoperable all security databases relevant to making
determinations of admissibility under section 212 of the Immigration
and Nationality Act. In implementing these requirements, DHS and the
Department of State were to utilize technologies that facilitate the
lawful and efficient cross-border movement of commerce and persons
without compromising the safety and security of the United States and
were to consider implementing a North American National Security
Program, for which other provisions in the act called for a feasibility
study.
The act, as amended, also established a number of requirements
regarding biometric travel and entry documents. It required that, not
later than October 26, 2004, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the
Secretary of State issue to aliens only machine-readable, tamper-
resistant visas and other travel and entry documents that use biometric
identifiers and that they jointly establish document authentication
standards and biometric identifiers standards to be employed on such
visas and other travel and entry documents from among those biometric
identifiers recognized by domestic and international standards
organizations. It also required by October 26, 2004 (amended to October
26, 2005), the installation at all U.S. POEs equipment and software to
allow biometric comparison and authentication of all U.S. visas and
other travel and entry documents issued to aliens and passports issued
by visa waiver participants. Such biometric data readers and scanners
were to be those that domestic and international standards
organizations determine to be highly accurate when used to verify
identity, that can read the biometric identifiers used under the act,
and that can authenticate the document presented to verify identity.
These systems also were to utilize the technology standard established
pursuant to the USA PATRIOT Act.
The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004[Footnote
70] described the program as an "automated biometric entry and exit
data system" and required DHS to develop a plan to accelerate the full
implementation of the program and to report to the Congress on this
plan by June 15, 2005. The report was to provide several types of
information about the implementation of US-VISIT,[Footnote 71]
including a "listing of ports of entry and other Department of Homeland
Security and Department of State locations with biometric exit data
systems in use." The report also was to provide a description of the
manner in which the US-VISIT program "meets the goals of a
comprehensive entry and exit screening system, including both entry and
exit biometrics;" and fulfills the statutory obligations imposed on the
program by several laws enacted between 1996 and 2002. The act provided
that US-VISIT "shall include a requirement for the collection of
biometric exit data for all categories of individuals who are required
to provide biometric entry data, regardless of the port of entry where
such categories of individuals entered the United States."
The provisions in the 2004 act also addressed other areas related to US-
VISIT, such as the integration and interoperability of databases and
data systems that process or contain information on aliens and federal
law enforcement and intelligence information relevant to visa issuance
and admissibility of aliens and maintenance of the accuracy and
integrity of the US-VISIT data system. It further addressed using US-
VISIT to track and facilitate the processing of immigration benefits
using biometric identifiers; the goals of the program (e.g., serving as
a vital counterterrorism tool, screening visitors efficiently and in a
welcoming manner, integrating relevant databases and plans for database
modifications to address volume increase and database usage, and
providing inspectors and related personnel with adequate real-time
information); and training, education, and outreach on US-VISIT, low-
risk visitor programs, and immigration law. Finally, it addressed
annual compliance reports by DHS, the Department of State, the
Department of Justice, and any other department or agency subject to
the requirements of the new provisions; and development and
implementation of a registered traveler program.
[End of section]
Appendix III: Overview of Biometric Technologies:
Biometric identification systems are human characteristic pattern
recognition systems. While the biometric technologies used in these
systems vary in complexity, capabilities, and performance, the
technologies all share several elements. They use acquisition devices,
such as cameras and scanning devices, to capture images, recordings, or
measurements of an individual's characteristics and computer hardware
and software to extract, encode, store, and compare these
characteristics. Because the process is automated, biometric comparison
is generally very fast, in most cases taking only a few seconds in real
time.
Depending on the application, biometric systems can be used in one of
two modes: identification or verification. Identification is referred
to as one-to-many matching because an individual's presented biometric
is compared against the stored biometric templates[Footnote 72] of all
individuals enrolled in the system. Verification--also called
authentication--is referred to as one-to-one matching because an
individual's presented biometric is compared against the biometric for
that person, which was stored in the system during enrollment.
How Biometrics Work:
Biometric technologies are available today and are being used for a
variety of applications, such as access control, criminal
identification, and border security. While several biometric
technologies are in use or being proposed, the more common technologies
and the ones that the US-VISIT program office considered for its
strategic solution are fingerprint recognition, facial recognition, and
iris recognition.
When used for personal identification, biometric technologies measure
and analyze human physiological and behavioral characteristics.
Identifying a person's physiological characteristics is based on direct
measurement of a part of the body, such as fingertips, faces, and
irises. The corresponding biometric technologies are fingerprint,
facial, and iris recognition. Identifying a person's behavioral
characteristics is based on data derived from actions, such as speech
and signature, the corresponding biometrics being speaker recognition
and signature recognition.
Biometrics are theoretically effective personal identifiers because the
characteristics they measure are thought to be distinct to each person.
Unlike conventional identification methods that use something you have,
such as an identification card to gain access to a building, or
something you know, such as a password to log on to a computer system,
these characteristics are intrinsic to who you are. Because they are
inherent in an individual, they are more reliable, cannot be forgotten,
and are less easily lost, stolen, or guessed.
Although biometric technologies measure different characteristics in
substantially different ways, all biometric systems involve similar
processes that can be divided into two distinct stages: enrollment and
identification or verification. No match is ever perfect in either an
identification or a verification system because every time a biometric
is captured, the template is likely to be unique. Therefore, biometric
systems can be configured to make a match or no-match decision, based
on a predefined number, referred to as a threshold, which establishes
the acceptable degree of similarity between the trial template and the
enrolled reference template. After the comparison, a score representing
the degree of similarity is generated, and this score is compared with
the threshold to make a match or no-match decision. For algorithms for
which the similarity between two templates is calculated, a score
exceeding the threshold is considered a match. For algorithms for which
the difference between two templates is calculated, a score below the
threshold is considered a match. Depending on the setting of the
threshold in identification systems, several reference templates can be
considered matches to the trial template, with the better scores
corresponding to better matches.
Types of Biometric Technologies:
As mentioned above, the three biometric technologies that the US-VISIT
program office considered for its strategic solution are fingerprint
recognition, facial recognition, and iris recognition. These three
technologies are discussed in the sections that follow.
Fingerprint Recognition:
Fingerprint recognition technology[Footnote 73] extracts features from
impressions made by the distinct ridges on the fingertips. The
fingerprints can be either flat or rolled. A flat print captures only
an impression of the central area between the fingertip and the first
knuckle; a rolled print captures ridges on both sides of the finger. An
image of the fingerprint is captured by a scanner, enhanced, and
converted into a template. Scanner technologies can be optical,
silicon, or ultrasound technologies, with optical being the most
commonly used. During enhancement, the definition of the ridges is
augmented to offset such things as dirt, cuts, scars, and creases or
dry, wet, or worn fingerprints. Template size ranges from 250 bytes up
to 1,000 bytes, depending on which vendor's proprietary algorithm the
system uses. Approximately 80 percent of vendors base their algorithms
on the extraction of minutiae points relating to breaks in the ridges
of the fingertips. Other algorithms are based on extracting ridge
patterns.
Facial Recognition:
Facial recognition technology identifies people by analyzing features
of the face not easily altered--the upper outlines of the eye sockets,
the areas around the cheekbones, and the sides of the mouth. The
technology is typically used to compare a live facial scan to a stored
template, but it can also be used in comparing static images such as
digitized passport photographs. Facial recognition can be used in both
identification and verification systems. In addition, because facial
images can be captured from video cameras, facial recognition is the
only biometric that can be used for surveillance purposes.
Iris Recognition:
Iris recognition technology focuses on the distinctly colored ring
surrounding the pupil of the eye. Made from elastic connective tissue,
the iris is a very rich source of biometric data, having approximately
266 distinctive characteristics. Formed during the eighth month of
gestation, these characteristics reportedly remain stable throughout a
person's lifetime, except in cases of injury. Iris recognition systems
use a small, high-quality camera to capture a black-and-white, high-
resolution image of the iris. They then define the boundaries of the
iris, establish a coordinate system over the iris, and define the zones
for analysis within the coordinate system. The visible characteristics
within the zones are then converted into a 512-byte template that is
used to identify or verify the identity of an individual.
Using Biometrics to Enroll Individuals:
In enrollment, a biometric system is trained to identify a specific
person. The person first provides an identifier, such as an
identification document. That person then presents the biometric (e.g.,
fingertips, face, or iris) to an acquisition device, and the biometric
is linked to his or her identity. Depending on the technology, the
biometric sample may be collected as an image, a recording, or a record
of related dynamic measurements. Template size also varies, depending
on the vendor and the technology, and can be stored remotely in a
central database or within a biometric reader device itself; their
small size also allows for storage on smart cards or tokens.
Minute changes in positioning, distance, pressure, environment, and
other factors influence the generation of a template, making each
template likely to be unique, each time an individual's biometric data
are captured and a new template is generated. Consequently, depending
on the biometric system, a person may need to present biometric data
several times in order to enroll. The reference template may then
either represent an amalgam of the captured data or several enrollment
templates may be stored. The quality of the template or templates is
critical in the overall success of the biometric application. Because
biometric features can change over time, people may have to reenroll to
update their reference template. Some technologies can update the
reference template during matching operations.
The enrollment process also depends on the quality of the identifier
the enrollee presents. The reference template is linked to the identity
specified on the identification document. If the identification
document does not specify the individual's true identity, the reference
template will be linked to a false identity.
Using Biometrics to Identify Individuals:
In identification systems, the purpose is to identify who the person
is. To find a match, the trial template is compared against the stored
reference templates of all individuals enrolled in the system.
Identification systems are referred to as one-to-many matching because
an individual's biometric is compared against multiple biometric
templates in the system's database.
There are two types of identification systems: positive and negative.
Positive identification systems are designed to ensure that an
individual's biometric is enrolled in the database. The anticipated
result of a search is a match. A typical positive identification system
controls access to a secure building or secure computers by checking
anyone who seeks access against a database of enrolled employees. The
goal is to determine whether a person seeking access can be identified
as having been enrolled in the system.
Negative identification systems are designed to ensure that a person's
biometric information is not present in a database. The anticipated
result of a search is a nonmatch. Comparing a person's biometric
information against a database of all who are registered in a public
benefits program, for example, can ensure that this person is not
"double dipping" by using fraudulent documentation to register under
multiple identities.
Another type of negative identification system is a surveillance system
that uses a watch list. Such systems are designed to identify people on
the watch list and alert authorities for appropriate action. For all
other people, the system is to check that they are not on the watch
list and allow them normal passage. The people whose biometrics are in
the database in these systems may not have provided them voluntarily.
For instance, for a surveillance system, the biometrics may be faces
captured from mug shots provided by a law enforcement agency.
Using Biometrics to Verify Individuals:
In verification systems, the purpose is to verify that a person is who
he or she claims to be (i.e., the person who enrolled). After the
individual provides the identifier he or she used to enroll, the
biometric is presented, which the biometric system captures, generating
a trial template that is based on the vendor's algorithm. The system
then compares the trial biometric template with this person's reference
template, which was stored in the system during enrollment, to
determine whether the individual's trial and stored templates match.
Verification is often referred to as one-to-one matching. Verification
systems can contain databases ranging from dozens to millions of
enrolled templates but are always predicated on matching an
individual's presented biometric against his or her reference template.
Nearly all verification systems can render a match or no-match decision
in less than a second. An example of a verification application is a
system that requires employees to authenticate their claimed identities
before granting them access to secure buildings or to computers.
US-VISIT functions both as an identification system and a verification
system. In the case of identification, US-VISIT serves as a negative
identification system by utilizing watchlist information, such as the
Federal Bureau of Investigation's Criminal Master File, to identify
individuals that should be denied entry into the United States and
possibly apprehended or detained by law enforcement officials. In the
case of verification, US-VISIT is used to verify the identities of
travelers who have been enrolled in the system.
[End of section]
Appendix IV: Comments from the Department of Homeland Security:
U.S. Department of Homeland Security:
Washington, DC 20528:
Homeland Security:
February 19, 2008:
Mr. Randolph Hite:
Director, Information Technology Architecture And Systems Issues:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
Dear Mr. Hite:
Thank you for the opportunity to review the draft report, Homeland
Security: Strategic Solution for US-Visit Program Needs to Be Better
Defined, Justified, and Coordinated (GAO-08-361).
US-VISIT generally agrees with the GAO's observations contained in the
draft report and has initiated actions to address the recommendations.
In addition, US-VISIT has provided specific substantive and technical
comments on the draft report.
Recommendation 1: The Undersecretary for National Protection and
Programs direct the US-VISIT Program Director to
* Develop a plan for a comprehensive exit capability, which includes,
at a minimum, a description of the capability to be deployed, the cost
of developing, deploying and operating the capability, identification
of key stakeholders and their respective roles and responsibilities,
key milestones, and measurable performance indicators.
* Develop an analysis of costs, benefits, and risks for proposed exit
solutions before large sums of money are committed on those solutions,
and use the analysis in selecting the final solution.
Response:
US-VISIT concurs with this recommendation.
* US-VISIT continues to refine the definition of a DHS-wide solution
for establishing an exit capability at air and sea environments. In
November 2007 the then-Acting Under Secretary for National Protection
and Programs convened a Departmental planning session to ensure a
coordinated approach to implementing air and sea exit operations by
December 2008.
* DHS is proposing to establish an exit system at all air and sea ports
of departure in the United States. This rule proposes to require aliens
subject to US-VISIT biometric requirements upon entering the United
States to also provide biometric identifiers prior to departing the
United States from air or sea ports of departure. DHS is working
aggressively on getting the Notice of Proposed Rule Making published,
with plans to implement the procedures by the end of 2008.
* In conjunction with the Notice of Proposed Rule Making, US-VISIT has
completed a cost benefit analysis for air and sea exit implementation.
* In addition, US-VISIT is developing a revised strategic plan that
recognizes its evolving role in DHS and the National Protection and
Programs Directorate (NPPD) and that is fully compliant with the
requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act. The
emphasis of the Strategic Plan is to align the mission and be results
oriented so that the program can measure, achieve, and control the
program resources and projects.
Recommendation 2: The Secretary of Homeland Security direct the
appropriate DHS parties involved in defining, managing, and
coordinating relationships across the department 's border and
immigration management programs to address the program collaboration
shortcomings identified in this report, such as fully defining the
relationships between US-VISIT and other immigration and border
management programs, and in doing so, to employ the collaboration
practices discussed in this report.
Response:
US-VISIT concurs with the recommendation.
* US-VISIT, along with the appropriate parties, is developing and
implementing an internal to DHS governance board, which will include
senior executives from DHS headquarters and operational components”many
of whom control and operate border protection programs, such as the
Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) and the Secure Border
Initiative (SBI). This board will provide a forum for collaboration and
communication about the program.
* US-VISIT is continually redefining, managing, and coordinating
relationships with other immigration and border management programs, as
appropriate. As part of its strategic planning, US-VISIT solicits input
from four groups of critically important stakeholders: (1) DHS
headquarters, including the office of the Chief Information Officer,
the Screening Coordination Office, and the Office of Policy; (2) DHS
component organizations, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection
and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; (3) other Federal
agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, the Department of State, and the National Institute of
Standards and Technology; and (4) affected non- Government
organizations, including the Travel Industry Association and the
American Immigration Lawyers Association. US-VISIT is also integrally
involved in Departmental working groups on WHTI, SBI, and immigration
reform efforts.
We again thank you for the opportunity to comment and for the
professionalism of the GAO team that worked on this engagement.
Sincerely,
Signed by:
Steven J. Pecinovsky:
Director:
Departmental GAO/OIG Liaison Office:
[End of section]
Appendix V: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
GAO Contact:
Joel C. Willemssen, (202) 512-6222, or willemssenj@gao.gov:
Staff Acknowledgments:
In addition to the individual named above, Deborah Davis, Assistant
Director; Harold Brumm; Neil Doherty; Kory Godfrey; Matthew Grote;
Joshua Hammerstein; Dave Hinchman; Sandra Kerr; Kaelin Kuhn; Nicholas
Marinos; Madhav Panwar; Sushmita Srikanth; Amos Tevelow; Jessica
Waselkow; and Eric Winter made key contributions to this report.
[End of section]
Footnotes:
[1] Applicable statutes are described in detail in appendix II.
[2] Prior to the creation of DHS in 2002, the Immigration and
Naturalization Service of the Department of Justice performed this
mission.
[3] Pub. L. No. 104-208, div. C, sec. 110 (Sept. 30, 1996).
[4] 8 U.S.C. § 1365a.
[5] Effective March 1, 2003, the Immigration and Naturalization Service
became part of DHS.
[6] On April 29, 2003, the Secretary of DHS renamed the entry-exit
system the US-VISIT system.
[7] 8 U.S.C. § 1379. USA PATRIOT Act stands for the Uniting and
Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to
Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001. As applicable here, the
Act's requirements for the Immigration and Naturalization Service were
taken over by DHS.
[8] Pub. L. No. 106-396 (Oct. 30, 2000).
[9] Between October 1, 2003, and September 30, 2007, the Secretary of
State could waive the requirement for machine-readable passports if the
country (1) was making progress toward ensuring that machine-readable
passports are generally available to its nationals and (2) it has taken
appropriate measures to protect against misuse of passports it issued
that do not meet the requirements.
[10] 8 U.S.C. § 1187(i).
[11] Pub. L. No. 107-173 (May 14, 2002).
[12] Pub. L. No. 108-299 (Aug. 9, 2004) extended the deadline from
October 26, 2004, to October 26, 2005.
[13] Countries participating in the Visa Waiver Program 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.
[14] Pub. L. No. 108-458, § 7208 (Dec. 17, 2004).
[15] US-VISIT currently applies to a certain group of foreign
nationals--nonimmigrants from countries whose residents are required to
obtain nonimmigrant visas before entering the United States and
residents of certain countries who are exempt from U.S. visa
requirements when they apply for admission to the United States for up
to 90 days for tourism or business purposes under the Visa Waiver
Program. US-VISIT also applies to (1) Mexican nonimmigrants traveling
with a Border Crossing Card (BCC), who wish to remain in the United
States longer than 30 days or who declare that they intend to travel
more than 25 miles into the country from the border and (2) Canadians
traveling to the United States for certain specialized reasons. See 8
C.F.R. § 235.1(f).
[16] On September 30, 2004, US-VISIT expanded biometric entry
procedures to include individuals from visa waiver countries applying
for admission.
[17] According to program officials, 14 of the remaining 16 POEs have
no operational need to deploy US-VISIT because visitors subject to US-
VISIT are, by regulation, not authorized to enter into the United
States at these locations. The other two POEs do not have the necessary
transmission lines to operate US-VISIT, and thus they process visitors
manually.
[18] Under section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as
amended, an alien (nonimmigrant) is inadmissible if he/she does not
have a valid passport, nonimmigrant visa, or border crossing
identification card at the time of application for admission. 8 U.S.C.
§ 1182(a)(7)(B). Under the INA's expedited removal process, if an alien
is inadmissible under section 212, the inspection officer may order the
alien removed from the United States, without further hearing or
review, unless the alien can demonstrate a credible fear of returning
to his/her home country. 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(1)(A). Category 1 Visa
Refusals include all the permanent ineligibilities for entry into the
United States based on national security concerns, criminal activity,
and the threat of spreading contagious disease.
[19] The Mona Passage is located between the Dominican Republic and
Puerto Rico. The objective of this effort is to demonstrate the
feasibility of using biometric data (fingerprints) to identify and
support prosecution of interdicted individuals. Interdicted individuals
are enrolled in US-VISIT's IDENT database and are biometrically checked
against known and suspected terrorists, aggravated felons, previous
deportees, and recidivists.
[20] We did not verify this information.
[21] After a biometric system extracts the features of an individual's
body part, it uses an algorithm to encode the features and store the
information in a biometric template that can be used for future
comparison.
[22] Pub. L. No. 108-458, § 7209 (Dec. 17, 2004), as amended by Pub. L.
No. 109-295, § 546 (Oct. 4, 2006) and Pub. L. No. 110-161, div. E, §
545 (Dec. 26, 2007).
[23] In November 2006, DHS and the Department of State issued a final
rule announcing that, beginning on January 23, 2007, citizens of the
United States, Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda are required to present a
passport to enter the United States when arriving by air from any part
of the western hemisphere. 71 Fed. Reg. 68,412 (Nov. 24, 2006). (To be
codified at 8 C.F.R. Parts 212 and 235 and 22 C.F.R. Parts 41 and 53.)
[24] Since the date of the proposed rule, the Department of Homeland
Security Appropriations Act, 2008, was enacted, which extended the WHTI
implementation deadline. Pub. L. No. 110-161, div. E § 545 (Dec. 26,
2007). Specifically, the implementation shall not be earlier than the
date that is the later of 3 months after the Secretaries of State and
Homeland Security certify that certain criteria have been met, or June
1, 2009.
[25] GAO, Observations on Implementing the Western Hemisphere Travel
Initiative, GAO-08-274R (Washington, D.C.: Dec. 20, 2007).
[26] See, for example, GAO, Homeland Security: Efforts Under Way to
Develop Enterprise Architecture, but Much Work Remains, GAO-04-777
(Washington, D.C.: Aug. 6, 2004); GAO, DOD Business Systems
Modernization: Limited Progress in Development of Business Enterprise
Architecture and Oversight of Information Technology Investments, GAO-
04-731R (Washington, D.C.: May 17, 2004); GAO, Information Technology:
Architecture Needed to Guide NASA's Financial Management Modernization,
GAO-04-43 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 21, 2003); GAO, DOD Business Systems
Modernization: Important Progress Made to Develop Business Enterprise
Architecture, but Much Work Remains, GAO-03-1018 (Washington, D.C.:
Sept. 19, 2003); GAO, Business Systems Modernization: Summary of GAO's
Assessment of the Department of Defense's Initial Business Enterprise
Architecture, GAO-03-877R (Washington, D.C.: July 7, 2003); GAO,
Information Technology: DLA Should Strengthen Business Systems
Modernization Architecture and Investment Activities, GAO-01-631
(Washington, D.C.: June 29, 2001); and GAO, Information Technology: INS
Needs to Better Manage the Development of Its Enterprise Architecture,
GAO/AIMD-00-212 (Washington, D.C.: Aug. 1, 2000).
[27] GAO, Information Technology: Homeland Security Needs to Improve
Entry Exit System Expenditure Planning, GAO-03-563 (Washington, D.C.:
June 9, 2003); GAO, Homeland Security: Risks Facing Key Border and
Transportation Security Program Need to Be Addressed, GAO-03-1083
(Washington, D.C.: Sept. 19, 2003); GAO-04-586; GAO, Homeland Security:
Some Progress Made, but Many Challenges Remain on U.S. Visitor and
Immigrant Status Indicator Technology Program, GAO-05-202 (Washington,
D.C.: Feb. 23, 2005); GAO, Homeland Security: Recommendations to
Improve Management of Key Border Security Program Need to Be
Implemented, GAO-06-296 (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 14, 2006); GAO, Border
Security: US-VISIT Program Faces Strategic, Operational, and
Technological Challenges at Land Ports of Entry, GAO-07-248
(Washington, D.C.: Dec. 6, 2006); GAO, Homeland Security: Planned
Expenditures for U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Program Need to Be
Adequately Defined and Justified, GAO-07-278 (Washington, D.C.: Feb.
14, 2007); GAO, Homeland Security: U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status
Program's Long-standing Lack of Strategic Direction and Management
Controls Need to Be Addressed, GAO-07-1065 (Washington, D.C.: Aug. 31,
2007).
[28] GAO-07-248.
[29] GAO-07-1065.
[30] GAO-03-1083.
[31] GAO-06-296.
[32] GAO-07-278.
[33] Since 2006, we have reported that the system that US-VISIT uses to
manage its finances, ICE's Federal Management System has reliability
issues. Although many issues are no longer considered material
weaknesses, independent auditors are still unable to express an opinion
on DHS's balance sheets as of September 30, 2007.
[34] Section 303 of the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform
Act of 2002 (Pub. L. No. 107-173) requires that no later than October
26, 2004, the Department of State issue visas that use biometric
identifiers. Pub. L. No. 108-299 (Aug. 9, 2004) extended the deadline
from October 26, 2004 to October 26, 2005.
[35] The 10 planned locations are Washington Dulles International
Airport (Chantilly, VA), John F. Kennedy International Airport (New
York, NY), Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (Detroit, MI),
William B. Hartsfield International Airport (Atlanta, GA), Chicago
O'Hare International Airport (Chicago, IL), General Edward Lawrence
Logan International Airport (Boston, MA), Orlando International Airport
(Orlando, FL), San Francisco International Airport (San Francisco, CA),
Miami International Airport (Miami, FL), and Houston International
Airport (Houston, TX).
[36] The enumerator is an alphanumerical identifier that is to link
disparate records pertaining to an individual, such that these records
can be linked and accurately retrieved, regardless of location,
platform or issuing entity. It can be used for identification purposes
within DHS and by other immigration and border management
organizations.
[37] Although US-VISIT plans to have enumeration search and link to
information found in IAFIS, the USCIS Chief Information Officer stated
that, initially, USCIS will not search IAFIS information when making a
request because of fees charged by the FBI for accessing IAFIS, noting
that USCIS already had an interface to IAFIS. According to the same
official, USCIS plans to make use of IDENT/IAFIS interoperability once
it is deployed.
[38] A fingerprint matcher is an automated identification system that
searches against databases that store minutiae information for
fingerprint images. A minutiae point is a break in a fingertip ridge in
a fingerprint image. A typical fingerprint image may produce between 15
and 50 minutiae, depending on the portion of the image captured. These
minutiae are used in matching with other fingerprints.
[39] Specifically, the IIRIRA required the development of an automated
system to record and then match the departure of every foreign national
from the United States to the individual's arrival record.
Subsequently, the Immigration and Naturalization Service Data
Management Improvement Act of 2000 amended the IIRIRA and required an
electronic system to record the entry and exit of certain foreign
nationals, and the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of
2004 specifically required that US-VISIT include the collection of
biometric exit data for all individuals for which entry data was
available.
[40] GAO-07-1065.
[41] In its technical comments on a draft of this report, DHS stated
that it had developed a project management plan.
[42] Office of Management and Budget, Planning, Budgeting, Acquisition
and Management of Capital Assets, Circular A-11, Part 7 (Washington,
D.C.: June 21, 2005).
[43] Department of Homeland Security, Capital Planning and Investment
Control: Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) Guidebook (February 2006).
[44] Includes data such as: FBI information on all known and suspected
terrorists, selected wanted persons (foreign-born, unknown place of
birth, previously arrested by DHS), and previous criminal histories for
high-risk countries; DHS ICE information on deported felons and
registered sex offenders; and DHS information on previous criminal
histories and previous IDENT enrollments.
[45] A latent print is fingerprint "image" left on a surface that was
touched by an individual. The transferred impression is left by the
surface contact with the friction ridges, usually caused by the oily
residues produced by the sweat glands in the finger.
[46] GAO, Results-Oriented Government: Practices That Can Help Enhance
and Sustain Collaboration among Federal Agencies, GAO-06-15
(Washington, D.C.: Oct. 21, 2005).
[47] A credential is a certified document showing that a person has a
certain privilege, right, or status.
[48] Portfolios are groupings of related investments, projects,
systems, and services.
[49] A data asset is a managed container for data such as a database,
Web site, document repository, or directory.
[50] RFID technology can be used to electronically identify and gather
information contained on a tag.
[51] US-VISIT utilized RFID technology embedded in a tag on a visitor's
arrival/departure form--which an electronic reader at the POE was
intended to detect. For the implementation of WHTI in the land
environment, DHS anticipates that RFID infrastructure will be rolled
out to cover the top 39 POEs (in terms of number of travelers).
[52] This project is to enable IDENT backend services, such as IDENT
watch list checks and enrollment in US-VISIT, to customers with mobile
capability requirements.
[53] The DHS EAB acts as the Executive Steering Committee for DHS IT
programs and has the primary responsibility to oversee the department's
EA.
[54] The DHS Enterprise Architecture Center of Excellence is
responsible for conducting reviews of program alignment, technology
insertions, service insertions and other decision requests to ensure
alignment with the department's enterprise architecture. It is composed
of members from the components including CBP and US-VISIT as well as
specialty reviewers such as the Privacy Office.
[55] Office of Management and Budget, Guidelines and Discount Rates for
Benefits-Cost Analysis of Federal Programs, Circular A-94 (Washington,
D.C.: Oct. 29, 1992).
[56] GAO, Technology Assessment: Using Biometrics for Border Security,
GAO-03-174 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 15, 2002).
[57] Homeland Security EA 2007.
[58] GAO-06-15.
[59] Pub. L. No. 104-208, div. C, sec. 110 (Sept. 30, 1996).
[60] Effective March 1, 2003, the Immigration and Naturalization
Service became part of DHS.
[61] Pub. L. No. 105-259 (Oct. 15, 1998).
[62] Pub. L. No. 105-277 (Oct. 21, 1998).
[63] Pub. L. No. 106-215 (June 15, 2000).
[64] The Homeland Security Act of 2002 transferred the border patrol,
detention and removal, intelligence, investigations, and inspections
programs previously under the Department of Justice's Commissioner of
Immigration and Naturalization to DHS's Under Secretary for Border and
Transportation Security. 6 U.S.C. § 251.
[65] Pub. L. No. 107-56 (Oct. 26, 2001).
[66] Pub. L. No. 106-396 (Oct. 30, 2000).
[67] Between October 1, 2003, and September 30, 2007, the Secretary of
State could waive the requirement for machine readable passports if the
country (1) was making progress toward ensuring that machine-readable
passports are generally available to its nationals and (2) it has taken
appropriate measures to protect against misuse of passports it issued
that do not meet the requirements.
[68] 8 U.S.C. § 1187(i).
[69] Pub. L. No. 107-173 (May 14, 2002).
[70] Pub. L. No. 108-458 (Dec. 17, 2004).
[71] On April 29, 2003, the Secretary of DHS renamed the entry exit
system the US-VISIT system.
[72] After a biometric system extracts the features of an individual's
body part, it uses an algorithm to encode the features and store the
information in a biometric template that can be used for future
comparison.
[73] Fingerprint recognition is one of the best known and most widely
used biometric technologies. Automated systems have been commercially
available since the early 1970s, and there are currently more than 75
fingerprint recognition technology companies. Until recently, it was
used primarily in law enforcement applications.
GAO's Mission:
The Government Accountability Office, the audit, evaluation and
investigative arm of Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting
its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance
and accountability of the federal government for the American people.
GAO examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and
policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance
to help Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding
decisions. GAO's commitment to good government is reflected in its core
values of accountability, integrity, and reliability.
Obtaining Copies of GAO Reports and Testimony:
The fastest and easiest way to obtain copies of GAO documents at no
cost is through GAO's Web site [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov]. Each
weekday, GAO posts newly released reports, testimony, and
correspondence on its Web site. To have GAO e-mail you a list of newly
posted products every afternoon, go to [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov]
and select "E-mail Updates."
Order by Mail or Phone:
The first copy of each printed report is free. Additional copies are $2
each. A check or money order should be made out to the Superintendent
of Documents. GAO also accepts VISA and Mastercard. Orders for 100 or
more copies mailed to a single address are discounted 25 percent.
Orders should be sent to:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
441 G Street NW, Room LM:
Washington, D.C. 20548:
To order by Phone:
Voice: (202) 512-6000:
TDD: (202) 512-2537:
Fax: (202) 512-6061:
To Report Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in Federal Programs:
Contact:
Web site: [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/fraudnet/fraudnet.htm]:
E-mail: fraudnet@gao.gov:
Automated answering system: (800) 424-5454 or (202) 512-7470:
Congressional Relations:
Ralph Dawn, Managing Director, dawnr@gao.gov:
(202) 512-4400:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
441 G Street NW, Room 7125:
Washington, D.C. 20548:
Public Affairs:
Chuck Young, Managing Director, youngc1@gao.gov:
(202) 512-4800:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
441 G Street NW, Room 7149:
Washington, D.C. 20548:
