United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (commonly referred to as US-VISIT) is a

U.S. Customs and Border Protection United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilita ...

(CBP) management system. The system involves the collection and analysis of

biometric Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics and features. Biometric authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used t ...

data (such as

fingerprint A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfa ...

s), which are checked against a database to track individuals deemed by the United States to be

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

s, and

illegal immigrant Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of that country's immigration laws, or the continuous residence in a country without the legal right to do so. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upward, wi ...

s. US-VISIT is accessed by 30,000 users from federal, state, and local government agencies. Upon Presidential approval of the 2013

Continuing resolution In the United States, a continuing resolution (often abbreviated to CR) is a type of appropriations legislation, which allocates money to specific federal government departments, agencies, and programs. The money provides funding for operation ...

the US-VISIT program officially became the Office of Biometric Identity Management (OBIM), save for portions of the agency which performed overstay analysis being transferred into

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the Un ...

and biometric Entry and Exit operations which became a part of

Purpose and overview

The U.S. government states that the purpose of US-VISIT is to advance the

security Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercion). Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be persons and social groups, objects and institutions, ecosystems, or any other entity or ...

of both the United States and worldwide travel, through the use and sharing of

information for

identity management Identity and access management (IAM or IdAM) or Identity management (IdM), is a framework of policies and technologies to ensure that the right users (that are part of the ecosystem connected to or within an enterprise) have the appropriate acce ...

. U.S. Department of State consular officers and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers collect biometric information (digital fingerprints and a photograph) from all non-U.S. citizens between the ages of 14 and 79, with some exceptions, when they apply for visas or arrive at major U.S. ports of entry. CBP officials have the ability to instantly check the person seeking entry against several "lookout" databases using the

Interagency Border Inspection System The Interagency Border Inspection System (IBIS) is a United States computer-based system that provides the law enforcement community with files of common interest. IBIS provides access to the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Crime Informa ...

. In 2009, DHS announced that it had completed an upgrade from two-fingerprint to ten-fingerprint scanners at major U.S. ports of entry. The upgrade, which began in 2007, is intended to make the entry process faster and more accurate. Initially, only visitors who required a visa inserted in their passport were included in the US-VISIT program. However, since September 30, 2004, visitors eligible for the

Visa Waiver Program The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) is a program of the Federal government of the United States, United States government that allows nationals of specific countries to travel to the United States for tourism, business, or while in transit for up t ...

have also been required to use the US-VISIT program. Beginning January 18, 2009, most non-U.S. citizens (including lawful permanent residents) are subject to US-VISIT requirements. The United States and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

have special agreements for visa-free travel, and currently most Canadians are not subject to US-VISIT. U.S. citizens are not required to be digitally fingerscanned or photographed when they enter United States territory. The

Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...

began issuing

biometric passport A biometric passport (also known as an electronic passport, e-passport or a digital passport) is a passport that has an embedded electronic microprocessor chip, which contains biometrics, biometric information that can be used to authenticate ...

s to its citizens in 2006. The program has been funded by Congressional appropriations of $330 million in fiscal year 2004, $340 million in 2005, $340 million in 2006, and $362 million in 2007. For fiscal year 2010, Congress appropriated $373.7 million and directed that $50 million be used to implement a biometric air exit capability.

Statistics

In fiscal year 2007: *A total of 46,298,869 entries recorded at air and sea ports. *Of these, 236,857 were identified as possible overstays. *The manual vetting system led to 273

arrests. *The databases resulted in 25,552 hits for consular officers overseas adjudicating visa applications. *There were 11,685 biometric watch-list hits at the ports of entry, which included individuals with criminal histories. *

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that administers the country's naturalization and Immigration to the United States, immigration system. History ...

used the system to screen those who apply for immigration benefits, creating 31,324 hits.

Controversy

Critics contend that the system is too inaccurate to be an effective solution. Barry Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Program on Technology and Liberty, states that the watch list is "bloated and full of inaccuracy", calling the policy a "total failure". He stated, "Whether or not the loss of liberty is worth the security gained is not a question — because no security is gained." The consulting company

Accenture Accenture plc is a global multinational professional services company originating in the United States and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, that specializes in information technology (IT) services and management consulting. It was founded in 1 ...

is the lead contractor for US-VISIT. The selection of Accenture in 2004 was controversial due to the location of the company's headquarters. In 2000, Accenture was created and incorporated in Bermuda, as a separation of global business consulting services from the financial consulting services of Andersen Consulting. Because Accenture was created in 2000, and because Andersen was not previously incorporated, Accenture was never previously considered to be incorporated in the United States.

Similar systems in other countries

The following list shows countries who fingerprint and photograph foreigners and citizens.

References

External links