Homeland Security has 2 employees — watching 15 million visitors!
THE REST ARE WATCHING YOU AND ME!
THE REST ARE WATCHING YOU AND
ME!
A loophole in the U.S. border security system called the Visa Waiver Program allowed 15 million people from 27 countries to enter the U.S. without a visa in 2004, according to a new report [.pdf] from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The Homeland Security Department used outdated information when it decided to continue letting visitors from those countries enter the U.S. without visas, congressional investigators said in a report Tuesday.
After reviews in 2004, the department decided the visa waiver program should continue for all 27 countries participating in it.
The GAO said the two employees assigned to the office aren’t enough to monitor risks in participating countries effectively….The office did stop the acceptance of temporary German passports, but has had trouble obtaining information on lost and stolen passports, the GAO said.
Interpol estimates the number of stolen, blank and counterfeit passports available around the world at any time to be 10-15 million.
Although homeland security officials want countries to report lost and stolen passports to Interpol, the U.S. has no mechanism for countries to do so. Four of the countries don’t report such information to Interpol and some do not report it on a regular basis, the GAO said.
Setting aside the ideology of so-called Homeland Security, is there any thought of doing something more constructive than building yet another mountain of papers piling up around two off-the-shelf government employees?
A loophole in the U.S. border security system called the Visa Waiver Program allowed 15 million people from 27 countries to enter the U.S. without a visa in 2004, according to a new report [.pdf] from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The Homeland Security Department used outdated information when it decided to continue letting visitors from those countries enter the U.S. without visas, congressional investigators said in a report Tuesday.
After reviews in 2004, the department decided the visa waiver program should continue for all 27 countries participating in it.
The GAO said the two employees assigned to the office aren’t enough to monitor risks in participating countries effectively….The office did stop the acceptance of temporary German passports, but has had trouble obtaining information on lost and stolen passports, the GAO said.
Interpol estimates the number of stolen, blank and counterfeit passports available around the world at any time to be 10-15 million.
Although homeland security officials want countries to report lost and stolen passports to Interpol, the U.S. has no mechanism for countries to do so. Four of the countries don’t report such information to Interpol and some do not report it on a regular basis, the GAO said.
Setting aside the ideology of so-called Homeland Security, is there any thought of doing something more constructive than building yet another mountain of papers piling up around two off-the-shelf government employees?
Posted: Fri - September 8, 2006 at 06:35 AM