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Mail Magaine 24...
DHS oblivious to
unauthorized foreigners In U.S., says new report
by Jim Kouri, Law Enforcement Examiner
A number of representatives from watchdog groups, government agencies
and the U.S. Congress are intensifying their criticism of the Obama
Administration’s handling of illegal immigration and the Department of
Homeland Security’s shortcomings in policing the immigration and visa
system.
For example, the successful and well-known “Inside the Beltway”
watchdog group -- that’s respected by those who seek justice and feared
by those involved in political or government corruption -- posted a
special April 1 blog entry alleging another Obama Administration
failure involving the U.S.’s out-of-control visitors visa system.
According to Judicial Watch’s Corruption Chronicles, the Department of
Homeland Security only takes action against a “small portion” of
foreigners who overstay their visa -- like several of the 9/11
terrorists -- and allows hundreds of thousands to enter the United
States without proper authorization under a provision that already
relaxes scrutiny for dozens of countries.
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reading on Examiner.com DHS oblivious to unauthorized
foreigners In U.S., says new report - National Law Enforcement |
Examiner.com
http://www.examiner.com/law-enforcement-in-national/dhs-oblivious-to-unauthorized-foreigners-u-s-says-new-report?CID=examiner_alerts_article#ixzz1r03zlynI
When investigators from the Government Accountability Office demanded
answers from the DHS, officials there said they had not yet completed a
review of the cases to determine the extent of the risk.It’s as if
nothing has been learned from the 2001 terrorist attacks, when security
was so lax that Middle Eastern extremists slipped right through to plan
their plot from inside the country.
Outlined in an investigative congressional report, these lapses are of
special concern. The first involves foreigners who enter the U.S. from
36 countries that have special visa waiver agreements with Uncle Sam.
They still need authorization, though the system is more lax than a
typical visa process. Foreigners must comply with a special DHS
Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) that requires them to
submit biographical information and answer eligibility questions before
traveling.
While most of the visitors comply with the requirements, an estimated
2% don’t, according to the Government Accountability Office, the
investigative arm of Congress. That translates into 364,000 travelers a
year, investigators found. Additionally, only half of the countries
that have visa waiver agreements with the U.S. are fully compliant. The
GAO points out in this latest report that it has published five
previous reports addressing the same subject yet little has been done
to improve security.
“It’s almost as if the monstrous agency created after the 2001
terrorist attacks to protect the nation is blowing off Congress. This
theory appears to be supported by the DHS’s handling of visa overstays.
If you recall, several of the 9/11 hijackers entered the U.S. with
valid visas but simply never left. This should be an area of deep
concern for the DHS, though it doesn’t appear to be,” said the JW
blogger.
In the course of their probe, GAO investigators found that federal
agencies only take action against a “small portion” of the estimated 4
to 5.5 million who overstay their visa. Why is that? Because the
specialized Homeland Security unit charged with cracking down on visa
violators has “competing priorities.”
As baffling as this may seem, it’s all in the report. The Immigration
and Customs Enforcement’s Counterterrorism and Criminal Exploitation
Unit is too busy with other matters, though it has “expressed an
intention to augment its overstay enforcement resources,” according to
the GAO.
Visa overstays have been a problem for the government for some time,
even before 9/11. Last year a federal audit revealed that nearly half
of the nation’s estimated 12 million illegal immigrants actually
entered the U.S. legally but never left after their visa expired.
The House of Representatives’ Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border
and Maritime Security, chaired by Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI), held a
hearing entitled “From the 9/11 Hijackers to Amine el-Khalifi:
Terrorists and the Visa Overstay Problem” last week, according to
officials from the National Association of Chiefs of Police (NACOP).
“This important hearing examined the track record of the Department of
Homeland Security to secure the U.S. borders through the passport and
visa system. It also addressed the challenges U.S. law enforcement
faces in identifying individuals who overstay their visas —
specifically those individuals who entered the U.S. prior to
implementation of post-9/11 reforms,” said a Michigan police commander,
Maj. George Thompson.
According to a DOJ press statement released last month, a 29 year-old
Moroccan man, Amine el-Khalifi, was arrested by FBI agents for plotting
to detonate a bomb during a suicide attack on the U.S. Capitol
Building. El-Khalifi entered the United States in 1999 on a tourist
visa that expired later that year, but remained undetected in the
United States illegally since that time.
“This hearing gives [committee] members the opportunity to examine how
gaps and vulnerabilities in the visa and immigration system have been
addressed in the 10 years since 9/11, and review what deficiencies in
tracking visa overstays remain,” said Rep. Miller in a press statement.
A Government Accountability Office study reveals that U.S. border
security efforts have been focused on securing the nation’s northern
and southern borders. However, more than 40 percent of all illegal
aliens do not sneak across the northern and southern borders, but enter
the U.S. legally through the front door and then never leave in spite
of their visa expiration.
Source: examiner.com
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