Tracking Visa Overstays with Biometric Data System May Become Reality
Tracking Visa Overstays with Biometric Data System May Become Reality
By Sylvia Cochran | Yahoo! Contributor Network – 3 hrs ago.. .
The Associated Press reports that within the next few weeks, the Department of Homeland Security intends to present Congress with a biometric data system to track visa overstays. So far, the exit system that tracks the visas of those leaving the country has been spotty.
When did the U.S. recognize the need to get a visa exit tracking system?
Officials have recognized the need for an exit visa tracking method before 2001 but have cited high costs as a major deterrent.
What is the catalyst for the renewed public discussion of overstays?
Amine El Khalifi, 29, faces allegations of hatching a "bomb plot against the U.S. Capitol." He is an immigrant who resided for more than a decade in the U.S. without a valid visa. He entered the country on a valid visitor's visa in 1999.
How many overstayed visas have not been tracked?
A 2011 Department of Homeland Security progress report references a visa overstay backlog that involved 1.6 million foreign nationals. The testimony of the principal deputy coordinator for counterterrorism in September outlined that 843,000 visa overstays had already left the country.
What do investigators do overstay leads?
Immigration and Customs Enforcement prioritizes its deportation proceedings based on national security risks. If suspicious travel patterns or other metrically defined risk factors become apparent, the agency targets the visa overstay for "investigation and removal."
What is the plan for the future?
"Take action against all overstays," the deputy coordinator's testimony continues. Overstayed visas would get canceled. Individuals will no longer be eligible to participate in the Visa Waiver Program. Future inadmissibility into the U.S. is another consequence. In so doing, officials hope to deter other immigrants from overstaying their visas.
Do overstays automatically get deported?
Not necessarily. In the testimony of the deputy associate director of Homeland Security Investigations, the official explained that when the Secure Communities program identifies visa overstays, "ICE officials determine what enforcement action is appropriate, consistent with ICE's enforcement priorities."
How do overstays factor into the illegal immigration problem?
PolitiFact vetted the data in 2010 and learned approximately 38 percent to 50 percent of immigrants in the U.S. without authorization entered the country legally. Overstayed visas included student visas, migrant visas and visitors' visas.
Sylvia Cochran offers an insider's perspective of the American immigration system. Having gone through the steps of becoming a citizen -- and currently living in a border state -- she brings hands-on familiarity with hot-button issues to the table.
Tracking Visa Overstays with Biometric Data System May Become Reality - Yahoo! News
