GAO Reports on Infeasibility of US-VISIT at Land Ports
Posted Dec 22, 2006
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The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report in December 2006 indicating that it is not feasible to use US-VISIT biometric tracking of departures at land ports of entry. The report indicates that implementation at land ports for departures would cost approximately three billion dollars. Part of the difficulty is attributable to the need to reconfigure entry and exit lanes, which would cause major congestion at many land ports.
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The US-VISIT program has been the subject of many MurthyBulletin articles. The most recent discussed expansion of US-VISIT at certain land ports. That expansion, however, dealt with the entry of foreign nationals into the United States, rather than tracking departures. For more information, see our January 13, 2006 article, US-VISIT Installation Completed at Additional Land Ports, available on MurthyDotCom.
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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recognizes that there are constraints on tracking individuals at the land borders both in terms of direct and tremendous indirect costs due to lengthy delays. It is unclear how the DHS eventually will track these land border travelers. The US-VISIT system at airports and seaports continues to be in effect.