GAO: DHS Lost Track of 1 Million Foreign Visitors
An audit of the Department of Homeland Security has found that the agency has lost track of more than 1 million foreign visitors. The foreign citizens came to the United States on temporary visas, but DHS can't confirm that they've actually left the United States. In 1996, Congress mandated the creation of an entry-exit system at all ports of entry to track visa overstayers, but it has yet to be implemented.
The audit was conducted by the Government Accountability Office.
"DHS has not yet fulfilled the 2004 statutory requirement to implement a biometric exit capability, but has planning efforts under way to report to Congress in time for the fiscal year 2016 budget cycle on the costs and benefits of such a capability at airports and seaports," GAO investigators wrote.
The Schumer-Obama amnesty bill, S.744, required completion of the entry-exit system at all sea and air ports, but excluded the more heavily travelled land ports, before some amnestied illegal aliens could begin a path to citizenship. In 2004, however, Congress required that the entry-exit system capture biometric information, but the Senate bill weakened that requirement by only requiring use of a biographic system.
As a result of the weakened entry-exit system in the Senate bill, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that S.744 would only reduce future illegal immigration by 33-50%.
For more information, see the Washington Times.