US-Visit To Begin Test Expansion In Texas, Arizona, And Michigan

IMMIGRATION LAW & POLICY

Immigration Records and Databases

US-VISIT to begin test expansion in Texas, Arizona, and Michigan
Immigrants' Rights Update, Vol. 18, No. 7, November 8, 2004

The Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program will begin a test expansion of its operations to three land ports of entry on Nov. 15, 2004. The sites are Laredo, TX, Douglas, AZ, and Port Huron, MI.

US-VISIT is the electronic entry/exit system aimed at keeping accurate track of who has entered the country, who has exited it, and who has overstayed his or her nonimmigrant visa. Beginning on Jan. 5, 2004, it required photographing and fingerprinting of nonimmigrant visitors to the U.S. as they entered the country at 115 airports and 14 major seaports.

By Dec. 31 of this year, US-VISIT must be deployed in the secondary inspection areas at the 50 busiest ports of entry and in the remaining ports of entry by Dec. 31, 2005.

According to an Oct. 14, 2004, DHS press release, “nearly 300” people have been detained out of the 10 million who have been screened under US-VISIT. They include “federal penitentiary escapees, convicted rapists, drug traffickers, individuals convicted of manslaughter and credit card fraud, a convicted armed robber, and numerous immigration violators and individuals attempting visa fraud.”

Canadians, who do not need a passport or visa to enter the U.S., and Mexicans who enter with a Border Crossing Card will remain exempt from the program. Visitors from the 27 “visa-waiver countries”—i.e., those whose nationals are not required to obtain a visa in order to visit the U.S.— originally were not required to be processed through US-VISIT. However, beginning on Sept. 30, 2004, these countries, which include the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Ireland, Japan, and 22 others (mostly in Europe), were added to the list of those whose nationals must be fingerprinted and photographed when they enter the U.S. as visitors. According to the Electronic Privacy Information Center (www.epic.org/privacy/us-visit/), the expansions will result in the U.S. government collecting biometrics from about 33,000 more travelers every day.