Weaknesses In Screening Entrants Into the United States 	 
(30-JAN-03, GAO-03-438T).					 
                                                                 
This testimony discusses the weakness in screening entrants into 
the United States. This work was completed in response to a	 
request that agents of the Office of Special Investigations (OSI)
attempt to enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, and	 
Jamaica at land, air, and sea ports of entry using fictitious	 
identities and counterfeit identification documents. The purpose 
was to test whether U.S. government officials conducting	 
inspections at the port of entry would detect the counterfeit	 
identification documents.					 
-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-03-438T					        
    ACCNO:   A06003						        
  TITLE:     Weaknesses In Screening Entrants Into the United States  
     DATE:   01/30/2003 
  SUBJECT:   Identity verification				 
	     Immigration or emigration				 
	     Inspection 					 
	     National preparedness				 
	     Canada						 
	     Jamaica						 
	     Mexico						 

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GAO-03-438T

WEAKNESSES IN SCREENING ENTRANTS INTO THE UNITED STATES

Statement of Robert J. Cramer, Managing Director Office of Special
Investigations

United States General Accounting Office

GAO Testimony Before the Committee on Finance United States Senate

For Release on Delivery Expected at 10: 00 a. m. Thursday, January 30,
2003 GAO- 03- 438T

GAO- 03- 438T U. S. Border Crossings 1 Mr. Chairman and Members of the
Committee:

I am here today to discuss the results of our work described in our
January 30, 2003, Limited Official Use report to this Committee entitled
Weaknesses in Screening Entrants into the United States (GAO- 03- 425R). 1
This work was completed in response to your request that agents of the
Office of Special Investigations (OSI) attempt to enter the United States
from Canada, Mexico and Jamaica at land, air, and sea ports of entry using
fictitious identities and counterfeit identification documents. The
purpose was to test whether U. S. government officials conducting
inspections at the port of entry would detect the counterfeit
identification documents.

I am accompanied this morning by Ronald Malfi, Director for
Investigations, and Assistant Director John Cooney.

In summary, we created fictitious driver*s licenses and birth certificates
using off- theshelf computer graphic software that is available to any
purchaser. In addition, we obtained and carried credit cards in the
fictitious names that were used in these tests. Our agents entered the
United States from Canada, Mexico, and Jamaica through ports of entry
using fictitious names and these counterfeit identification documents.
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and U. S. Customs Service
officials never questioned the

authenticity of the counterfeit documents, and our agents encountered no
difficulty entering the country using them. On two occasions, INS
officials did not ask for or inspect any identification documents when our
agents entered the United States. On another occasion an agent was able to
walk across a major border checkpoint and was not stopped or inspected by
any government official.

INS regulations require that all persons who arrive at a U. S. port of
entry be inspected by a government official. A U. S. citizen traveling
inside countries in the Western Hemisphere, such as those we visited for
purposes of these tests, is not required to show

a passport when entering the United States but is required to prove
citizenship. INS accepts as proof of citizenship documents such as a U. S.
state or federally issued birth

1 The Immigration and Naturalization Service designated our report as
*Limited Official Use.*

GAO- 03- 438T U. S. Border Crossings 2 certificate or a baptismal record,
and photo identification such as a driver*s license.

However, since the law does not require that U. S. citizens present
documents to prove citizenship when entering the United States, INS also
permits travelers to establish U. S. citizenship by oral statements alone.

U. S. Border Crossings from Canada The first border crossing by OSI agents
occurred when two of our agents entered the United States through a sea
port of entry from Canada. On that occasion, the agents were not asked to
show any identification. On a subsequent occasion, two agents, driving a
rented car with Canadian plates, using fictitious names and counterfeit
documents, crossed the border into the United States at a Canadian land
border crossing. A U. S. Customs inspector asked for identification and
was provided the counterfeit documents. After the inspector reviewed the
documents, the agents were allowed to cross the border.

During the Canadian land border crossing, the agents discovered a further
potential security problem. A park straddles the U. S. and Canada at this
border crossing. One of our agents was able to walk across this park into
the United States from Canada without

being stopped or questioned by any U. S. government official. Later that
agent walked back to Canada through this park without being inspected by
Canadian authorities.

U. S. Border Crossing from Mexico The second series of border crossings
were from Mexico. On one occasion, at a land border crossing, an INS
inspector asked our agent if he was a U. S. citizen and whether he had
brought anything across the border from Mexico. After the agent responded
that he was a U. S. citizen and that he was not bringing anything into the
United States from Mexico, the inspector allowed him to proceed without
requiring any proof of identity.

GAO- 03- 438T U. S. Border Crossings 3 On a subsequent occasion at the
same border crossing, two of our agents were asked by

INS inspectors for identification. Both agents presented counterfeit
driver*s licenses and were allowed to cross into the United States.

U. S. Border Crossing from Jamaica The third set of border crossings were
from Jamaica. Two of our agents traveling on one- way tickets from Jamaica
arrived at an airport in the United States. Each agent presented to INS
inspectors counterfeit identification documents. The INS inspectors did
not recognize any of the documents presented as counterfeit and allowed
the agents to enter the United States.

Conclusion

We recognize that weaknesses in inspection processes for entrants into the
United States raise complex issues. We are currently performing an
evaluation of those processes pursuant to the Illegal Immigration Reform
and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 that will be reported to Congress
in the coming months. Although INS inspects millions of people who enter
the United States and detects thousands of individuals who attempt to
illegally enter the United States each year, the results of our work
indicate that (1) people who enter the United States are not always asked
to present identification, (2) security to prevent unauthorized persons
from entering the United States from Canada is inadequate at the border
park we visited, and (3) INS inspectors are not readily capable of
detecting counterfeit identification documents. We plan to discuss further
with INS options for better training of inspectors in detecting
counterfeit documents.

Mr. Chairman, this completes my prepared statement. We will be pleased to
respond to any questions you or other members of the Committee may have at
this time.

(601102)
*** End of document. ***