Homeland Security: U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Program's	 
Long-standing Lack of Strategic Direction and Management Controls
Needs to Be Addressed (31-AUG-07, GAO-07-1065). 		 
                                                                 
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has established a	 
program known as U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator	 
Technology (US-VISIT) to collect, maintain, and share		 
information, including biometric identifiers, on certain foreign 
nationals who travel to the United States. By congressional	 
mandate, DHS is to develop and submit an expenditure plan for	 
US-VISIT that satisfies certain conditions, including being	 
reviewed by GAO. GAO reviewed the plan to (1) determine if the	 
plan satisfied these conditions, (2) follow up on certain	 
recommendations related to the program, and (3) provide any other
observations. To address the mandate, GAO assessed plans and	 
related documentation against federal guidelines and industry	 
standards and interviewed the appropriate DHS officials.	 
-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-07-1065					        
    ACCNO:   A75489						        
  TITLE:     Homeland Security: U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status     
Program's Long-standing Lack of Strategic Direction and 	 
Management Controls Needs to Be Addressed			 
     DATE:   08/31/2007 
  SUBJECT:   Biometric identification				 
	     Cost analysis					 
	     Homeland security					 
	     Identification cards				 
	     Immigrants 					 
	     Program evaluation 				 
	     Program management 				 
	     Reporting requirements				 
	     Strategic planning 				 
	     Accountability					 
	     Program implementation				 
	     DHS Visitor and Immigrant Status			 
	     Indicator Technology Program			 
                                                                 

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GAO-07-1065

   

     * [1]Report to Congressional Committees

          * [2]August 2007

     * [3]HOMELAND SECURITY

          * [4]U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Program's Long-standing Lack
            of Strategic Direction and Management Controls Needs to Be
            Addressed

     * [5]Contents

          * [6]Compliance with Legislative Conditions
          * [7]Status of Open Recommendations
          * [8]Observations on the Expenditure Plan and Management of US-
            VISIT
          * [9]Conclusions
          * [10]Recommendation for Executive Action
          * [11]Agency Comments and Our Evaluation

     * [12]Briefing Slides
     * [13]Comments from the Department of Homeland Security
     * [14]GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments

[15]www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-1065 .

To view the full product, including the scope
and methodology, click on the link above.

For more information, contact Randolph C. Hite at (202) 512-3439 or
[email protected].

Highlights of [16]GAO-07-1065 , a report to congressional committees

August 2007

HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Program's Long-standing Lack of
Strategic Direction and Management Controls Needs to Be Addressed

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has established a program known
as U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) to
collect, maintain, and share information, including biometric identifiers,
on certain foreign nationals who travel to the United States. By
congressional mandate, DHS is to develop and submit an expenditure plan
for US-VISIT that satisfies certain conditions, including being reviewed
by GAO. GAO reviewed the plan to (1) determine if the plan satisfied these
conditions, (2) follow up on certain recommendations related to the
program, and (3) provide any other observations. To address the mandate,
GAO assessed plans and related documentation against federal guidelines
and industry standards and interviewed the appropriate DHS officials.

[17]What GAO Recommends

Because outstanding recommendations already address all of the management
weaknesses discussed in this report, GAO is reiterating prior
recommendations and recommending that the Secretary of DHS report to the
department's authorization and appropriations committees on its reasons
for not fully addressing the legislative conditions and prior GAO
recommendations. DHS largely agreed with the report and provided
additional information and views that GAO has incorporated and addressed
in the report as appropriate.

The US-VISIT expenditure plan, including related program documentation and
program officials' statements, satisfies or partially satisfies some but
not all of the legislative conditions required by the Department of
Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2007. For example, the department
satisfied the condition that it provide certification that an independent
verification and validation agent is currently under contract for the
program and partially satisfied the condition that US-VISIT comply with
DHS's enterprise architecture. However, the department did not satisfy the
conditions that the plan include a comprehensive US-VISIT strategic plan
and a complete schedule for biometric exit implementation.

DHS partially implemented GAO's oldest open recommendations pertaining to
US-VISIT. For example, while the department partially completed the
recommendation that it develop and begin implementing a US-VISIT system
security plan, the scope of the plan does not extend to all the systems
that comprise US-VISIT. In addition, while the expenditure plan provides
some information on US-VISIT's cost, schedule, and benefits associated
with planned capabilities, the information provided is not sufficiently
defined and detailed to address GAO's recommendation and provide a
reasonable basis for measuring progress and holding the department
accountable for results.

GAO identified several additional observations. On the positive side, DHS
data show that the US-VISIT prime contract is being executed according to
cost and schedule expectations. However, DHS continues to propose
disproportionately heavy investment in US-VISIT program management-related
activities without adequate justification or full disclosure. Further, DHS
continues to propose spending tens of millions of dollars on US-VISIT exit
projects that are not well-defined, planned, or justified on the basis of
costs, benefits, and risks.

Overall, the US-VISIT fiscal year 2007 expenditure plan and other
available program documentation do not provide a sufficient basis for
effective program oversight and accountability. Both the legislative
conditions and GAO's open recommendations are aimed at accomplishing both,
and thus they need to be addressed quickly and completely. However,
despite ample opportunity to do so, DHS has not done so and the reasons
why are unclear. Until these recommendations are addressed, GAO does not
believe that the program's disproportionate investment in
management-related activities represents a prudent and warranted course of
action or to expect that the newly launched exit endeavor will produce
results different from past results--namely, no operational exit solution
despite expenditure plans allocating about a quarter of a billion dollars
to various exit activities.

References

Visible links
  15. http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-1065
  16. http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-1065
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