Today, the Government Accountability Office released a report addressing efforts by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to address the issue of illegal visa overstays.  Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX28), along with Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), Senator Susan Collins (I-ME), Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX18), and Congresswoman Candice S. Miller (R-MI10), requested the report from GAO. 

“I commend the Department of Homeland Security and the Government Accountability Office for completing a comprehensive assessment of our shortcomings in correlating visa entries and exits to the United States,” said Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX28).  “I am optimistic that this report will be a catalyst for further DHS action to more effectively enforce our immigration laws and protect our borders.” 

Every year, millions of visitors come to the United States on a temporary basis with a visa.  DHS continually reviews potential visa overstays, but a significant number of unmatched arrival records remain.  This report assesses actions DHS has taken since April 2011 to minimize potential visa overstays. 

As of June 2013, DHS had more than 1 million unmatched arrival records that do not meet enforcement priorities.  Forty-four percent of visa overstays were non-immigrants who traveled to the U.S. on a tourist visa, while 43 percent were tourists admitted to the country under the Visa Waiver Program, a program that does not require individuals to obtain a visit prior to travel to the U.S. based on agreements with certain countries. 

According to the GAO report, the collection of departure data at land ports is unreliable and poses a challenge to DHS’s ability to identify visa overstays.  A system such as the Beyond the Border initiative, adopted with Canada in 2011, would help address those challenges.  The Beyond the Border initiative is a coordinated entry/exit information system in which an entry into one country is considered an exit from the other.  DHS’s analysis of the 413,222 records received through a pilot program showed that DHS was able to match 97.4 percent of Canadian entry records to a U.S. entry record.

“The Beyond the Border Initiative has been hugely successful in regulating entries and exits along our northern border,” added Congressman Cuellar. “I encourage the Department of Homeland Security to consider a similar initiative with our southern neighbors.”

One of the major provisions of the Senate immigration reform proposal called for DHS to develop a biometric tracking system at airports, creating digital records of all who enter and leave our borders.  So far, according to the GAO report, DHS has not clearly defined the steps, time frames, and milestones needed to develop and implement such a system.  Without this type of planning, DHS cannot reasonably ensure that it will meet its goals for developing this system. 

A full copy of the GAO report may be accessed at: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-683.