A Senate panel roundly criticized the Department of Homeland Security this week for having no radio frequency identification (RFID) screening system in place, or even in development, that can verify when visitors to the United States exit the country by land.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security, said DHS’ U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program does a decent job of monitoring the entry of millions of visitors.
But more than 10 years after Congress mandated a land border exit system, there is still no reliable means of knowing who leaves the country, she said. Moreover, “DHS has essentially declared that [its RFID test] exit program is dead as far as land borders are concerned,” she said. “This is a serious problem.”
Feinstein noted that in 2004 there were some 335.3 million land border crossings into the U.S., but the whereabouts of some 4.6 million of those people remains unknown.
“We have left a gaping hole in our country’s borders,” she said, adding that anyone entering by air or sea could leave undetected by way of one of 170 land ports of entry on more than 7,500 miles of border.
“Failing to address exits at all ports is providing a blueprint to those who wish to harm the United States,” Feinstein said. “Without implementing a comprehensive exit and entry systems at all of our ports, we are leaving ourselves vulnerable to another attack.”
Ranking committee member Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said, “Southern border business officials are concerned with the [expected] increased delays at border crossing checkpoints and the impact of the delays on the area’s economics” if an exit system is implemented.
Cornyn has introduced legislation that would permit Mexican nationals with laser visas who have already been screened by U.S. officials to remain in the country longer. He said the Secure Border Crossing Card Entry Act of 2007 (S. 422) would extend those visitors’ stays from 30 days to six months, equal to Canadians’ privileges.
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