US-Visit Program
 The
legislation set forth by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 dictated the
introduction of an automated entry and exit
system to track individuals leaving and entering the United States. The system is known as the US-Visit
program, which stands for the United States
Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology. The main purpose of the new
system is to prevent terrorists from entering the United States. One of the ways
this is accomplished is by collecting fingerprint scans and digital photos of
those entering the country. The traveler’s fingerprints and
photos are then compared to the fingerprints and photos of terrorists and other
criminals. The system will notify the immigration officers as to whether the
traveler is allowed to enter the U.S. or if they have violated the terms of
their visa. Other notifications that may show up
include if the traveler’s immigration status has been modified or if the
traveler may require special attention to their refugee status. Another advantage of the US-Visit Program is
that the traffic flow of individuals entering and leaving the U.S. has become
smoother. For the most part, visitors who desire to enter the U.S. despite their
country of origin or visa status, must go through the US-Visit system.
Some of the individuals who are exempt include Canadian citizens and most
Mexican visitors who possess a Border Crossing Card.
The US-Visit program was designated $380 million for fiscal year 2003. By
law the Department of Homeland Security is required to
come up with a plan to specifically outline how the US-Visit budget is to be
allocated. On December 2005, the U.S. government met the deadline established by
Congress to integrate biometric capabilities into the US-Visit system. Biometric
technologies include facial recognition and scans of the iris. Biometric entry
capabilities are available at 104 land ports throughout the United States and
continue to be installed at other ports. Some of the visitor information that
will be collected by the US-Visit program include: name, sex, ethnicity, status
(immigrant, non-immigrant, citizen), country where passport was issued, passport
number, country of residence and address while in the U.S. The U.S.
Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are responsible for maintaining the databases. The database
will be available to a select group including: port of entry officials,
adjudication officers and other staff at immigration offices, U.S. consular
offices, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents, and
other agencies with law enforcement responsibilities. Only authorized officials
will have access to this information as it is deemed necessary.
The US-Visit system has been implemented on a large scale throughout the U.S.,
and is considered to be the largest biometric system worldwide. New technology like
radio-frequency identification will continue to be tested at U.S. port of
entries and fully integrated nationwide if found to be beneficial. The US-Visit system has processed over 44 million
individuals entering the U.S. as visitors. With the new system in place they
were able to intercept nearly 1,000 individuals who could cause potential
problems in the U.S. The individuals who were denied entrance at U.S. port of entries ranged from
those that were prison escapees, drug dealers, violators of immigration
policies, convicted rapists, murderers and other criminals. Another benefit of
the US-Visit system is that the processing time has decreased. An example given by
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the drop in time at the Laredo,
Texas port
of entry. Before the system was implemented, it was common for U.S. visitors to
wait over 10 minutes. Now the processing time is less than five minutes, but
Laredo officers have been known to process some visitors in two minutes. The
waiting time for entrance and exit of the country has been reduced which makes
the overall traveling experience more pleasant. In addition, it has prevented
terrorists and other criminals from entering the U.S. via their port of entries.
Related Articles:
|
Back to Immigration Articles
