2008 Press Releases

September 22, 2008
Senate Judiciary Subcommittee to Hold
Hearing on Visa Waiver Program
Washington, DC - At 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 24, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security will hold a hearing on mitigating risks involving the visa waiver program.

Time/Location:
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
2:30 p.m., 216 Hart Senate Office Building

Topic:
“The Visa Waiver Program: Mitigating risks to ensure the safety of all Americans.”

Witnesses:
Stewart A. Baker, Assistant Secretary, Office of Policy, Department of Homeland Security

Jess T. Ford, Director, International Affairs and Trade, U.S. Government Accountability Office

Wednesday’s hearing will focus on a new report, released last week by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which found a number of failures involving the Visa Waiver program. They include:

• The Department of Homeland Security’s program expansion process is not transparent. DHS hasn’t followed its own operating procedures for the visa waiver program, making it difficult for U.S. officials to manage the expectations of countries that aspire to be added to the program.
• DHS is still not yet able to verify, as required by law, the departure of 97 percent of foreign nationals who exit through U.S. airports.
• DHS will likely not meet the required July 2009 timeline to implement a biometric air exit system due to technical and operational difficulties, including potential opposition from the airline industry.
• The Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) for screening visa waiver travelers before they arrive in the United States has not been certified as fully operational and likely won’t meet a January 12, 2009 deadline.

The report was requested by Senators Feinstein, Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), to examine whether the Bush Administration is implementing the security measures required of the Visa Waiver program under the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007. The Visa Waiver program enables citizens of participating countries to enter the United States for tourism or business for 90 days or less without obtaining a visa. Currently 27 countries participate in the program.

The “Implementing the Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007”, which was signed into law in August 2007, requires that the Department of Homeland Security not admit new countries with visa refusal rates greater than 10 percent into the Visa Waiver program until it can verify the departure of 97 percent of foreign travelers leaving U.S. airports. It also requires that there be in place a fully operational electronic travel authorization system for all travelers from visa waiver countries. Under this system, every visa waiver traveler must provide their biographical information to the Department of Homeland Security three days before they can get on a plane to the United States.

The GAO report found that neither mandate has yet been met. Despite this, DHS has announced that it intends to add five additional countries into the visa waiver system, four of which have visa refusal rates over the 10 percent accepted threshold (Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia.)

Here is the link to the GAO report: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08967.pdf