Failures
The GAO report found the following failures:
- The Department of Homeland Security's program expansion process is not transparent. DHS hasn't followed its own operating procedures for the visa waiver program and made it difficult for U.S. officials to manage the expectations of countries that aspire to be added to the program.
- DHS is still not yet able to verify, as required by law, the departure of 97 percent of foreign nationals who exit through U.S. airports.
- DHS will likely not meet the required July 2009 timeline to implement a biometric air exit system due to technical and operational difficulties, including potential opposition from the airline industry.
Although the ETSA became available on a voluntary basis on August 1, 2008, it has not been certified as fully operational and likely won't meet a January 12, 2009 deadline.
Despite these findings, DHS has already negotiated visa waiver program agreements with the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Hungary and Lithuania. The GAO report found that four of these countries (Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia) have visa refusal rates over the 10% accepted threshold.
Recommendations
The report also listed specific recommendations for Executive action, including:
- Department of Homeland Security establish a more transparent process to expand the visa waiver program and determine which countries should be considered for expansion
- Designate an office to develop overstay rate information and direct the office to explore cost-effective ways to further validate, test and improve the reliability of overstay data
- Direct the Visa Waiver Program Office to monitor overstay rates for current and aspiring visa waiver program countries to help evaluate whether these countries pose a potential illegal immigration risk to the United States.
Where It Stands
The visa waiver program could pose a risk to the United States if it is exploited to gain illegal entry into the country. In fact, in September 2007, the Director of National Intelligence testified that al Qaeda is recruiting Europeans because most of them do not require a visa to enter the United States. A lack of effective screening and an inability to monitor the 90-day time limit could further jeopardize U.S. security, in addition to contributing to illegal immigration concerns.
On November 13, 2008, the Department of Homeland Security announced that the requirement to provide an Electronic System of Travel Authorization (ESTA) had been met, and all all Visa Waiver Program travelers would be required to register on the site beginning January 12, 2009.
This prompted a letter from Senator Feinstein to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. In the letter, Feinstein pointed out that while the ESTA would be required by January 12, there was no system in place to track that travelers were actually registering with the ESTA prior to boarding.
Senator Feinstein's letter appeared to have little impact, because on November 17, 2008, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it had expanded the Visa Waiver Program from 27 to 34 countries. The Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, the Republic of Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia were added to the list of participating VWP countries. Senator Feinstein released a statement on the same day opposing the expansion and promised to introduce legislation in the next Congress to tighten the visa waiver program by increasing oversight of the program.
Sources:
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein website
GAO report "Visa Waiver Program: Actions Needed to Improve Management Expansion Process and Assess and Mitigate Program Risks"
Department of Homeland Security
