THE REST ARE WATCHING YOU AND ME!
A loophole in the U.S. border security system called the Visa Waiver Program allowed 15 million people from 27 countries to enter the U.S. without a visa in 2004, according to a new report [.pdf] from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The Homeland Security Department used outdated information when it decided to continue letting visitors from those countries enter the U.S. without visas, congressional investigators said in a report Tuesday.
After reviews in 2004, the department decided the visa waiver program should continue for all 27 countries participating in it.
The GAO said the two employees assigned to the office aren’t enough to monitor risks in participating countries effectively….The office did stop the acceptance of temporary German passports, but has had trouble obtaining information on lost and stolen passports, the GAO said.
Interpol estimates the number of stolen, blank and counterfeit passports available around the world at any time to be 10-15 million.
Although homeland security officials want countries to report lost and stolen passports to Interpol, the U.S. has no mechanism for countries to do so. Four of the countries don’t report such information to Interpol and some do not report it on a regular basis, the GAO said.
Setting aside the ideology of so-called Homeland Security, is there any thought of doing something more constructive than building yet another mountain of papers piling up around two off-the-shelf government employees?
Don’t forget that there are countries that let US citizens in without a visa as well. Any country that gets dropped from the list will impose visa restrictions on us in turn.
I think the point is more about — visa or not — there’s no validation of passports, no check on whether the passport used has already been reported stolen or missing. Where there’s a visa, that’s a moot point.
Then this should be an article on screening passports at the border.
Ah, it used to be so nice to be able to travel to the US from Canada with a drivers license and my birth certificate. Now I have to bring a passport and get a visa… Let’s see… where ELSE should I go instead?
Vote Republican this November or you’ll get blown up by the terrorists!
Acually (chuckle), while the article discusses several points — after all is said and done, the dweebs at Homeland Insecurity are more concerned about checking up on folks inside the borders than those arriving from outside. 🙂
Smart, it’s a shame the kooks in this country aren’t interested in blowing themselves up, otherwise the lax security of other nations would matter.
#6, well put.
The US and Canada have had a huge trading arrangement for decades. Goods freely cross the border as do each other citizens. Now, Canadians will need passports to enter and Americans will need passports to return to the US. Yet, over 1,000,000 a year sneak across the southern border. Isn’t there something wrong with this picture?
This is silly, even if you are a Visa Waivor, they scan your passport and your fingerprints to see if it is stolen etc.. The only difference is that waivors dont have to “apply” for a visa..
being from norway, i get the ridiculous “security” treatment as anyone else every time i enter usa, even though i am a visa waivor.
#8
Yeah, the Department of Homeland Security is a hopeless failure. They are like a boat, ‘a hole in the water you throw money into’, except in this case you have to throw a few rights in every once in awhile as well, which you have nothing to worry about if you are not a terrorist. Security run by idiots trying to catch idiots for prosecution by idiots.
Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death, is how the creed used to go, not Give me Security and Give Me Idiocy.
This story points out that “terrorist prevention” is more about avilable funds than about sensibly trying to minimize terrorism. If we’re letting millions of people into the US without checking their credentials, what “movie plots” of terrorism can we also stop spending money on?
Its funny,
When I worked for FRed meyer in Oregon, they installed 10 million dollors of security equipment, in the stores. Most of it on the employees, rather then protection of goods.
#12, employees are still the number one cause of missing inventory.
13,
Ummm,
NOT if they paid better.
>>Interpol estimates the number of stolen, blank and counterfeit passports available around the world at any time to be 10-15 million
So it follows that all 15 million passports were used to enter the US in one year?
Buried as ‘scaremongering’.