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GCN Home > 07/27/06 web stories

U.S. Visit to expand border screening

By Wilson P. Dizard III, GCN Staff

Legal permanent residents and some other foreigners would be added to the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program’s border screening process under a newly proposed regulation.

DHS officials already have prepared their systems for the additional processing work, acting program director Robert Mocny told reporters today.

“We always plan ahead on the computer systems that we use, so this has been in the planning stages for a while now,” Mocny said.

“We have the requisite IT support systems in place. We are not talking about tens of millions [of foreigners]; we’re talking about a million-plus individuals who cross [the U.S. border] on a regular basis. So the numbers aren’t that big,” he said.

According to Mocny, there are about 8 million to 12 million legal permanent residents in the country.

The proposed rule, published in today’s Federal Register, would expand U.S. Visit’s coverage to include:
  • Legal permanent residents
  • Applicants for immigrant visas
  • Refugees and people seeking asylum
  • Some categories of Canadians who receive I-94 entry forms at the border, including nurses and religious workers but not most tourists
  • Foreigners entering under “immigration parole” status (Individuals ineligible to enter the United States as refugees, immigrants or nonimmigrants may be “paroled” into the country by the secretary of Homeland Security.)
  • Applicants for admission under the Guam Visa Waiver program.


Mocny noted that the U.S. Visit program had progressively expanded its coverage by increasing its processing technology and categories of foreigners screened.

U.S. Visit now screens all foreign visitors, with limited exceptions and regardless of nationality, who enter via air, sea or land. The program exempts those younger than age 14 and older than 79.

The proposed regulation would ensure that “once a person gets a legal permanent resident card it, cannot be used by anyone else, cannot be stolen and cannot be used by someone masquerading as that person,” Mocny said.

The proposed screening expansion would actually save time at border crossing points by reducing the number of travelers who pass through “secondary,” more detailed processing by Customs and Border Protection officials, Mocny said.

More news on related topics: Homeland Security, Management, IT Management



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