This thread to be used for TRAVEL ISSUES/PROBLEMS.
Why you do not want your records in the US-VISIT program, especially if by mistake. The data is compared with the consulate data (visas) at the port of entry into the US. If no data was collected at the consulates abroad, there is no obvious match. No good. Furthermore, the data inserted by 80,000 FBI personnel is inaccurate!
Avoid being a potential victim.
Inaccurate databanks pose challenge for new visitor tracking
system
By Chris Strohm
cstrohm@govexec.com
The Homeland Security Department is
undertaking a massive effort to integrate more
than two dozen criminal and terrorist
databanks as part of a new immigration
tracking system, but some immigration
advocates fear inaccurate information will
cause problems for people entering the
country.
The department plans to integrate 27 different
biographical databases and one biometric
database this year to make the U.S. Visitor
and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology
(US VISIT) program work, said Robert
Mocny, the program's deputy director. US
VISIT was launched Monday at 115 airports
and 14 ship terminals, and requires visitors
with nonimmigrant visas to give biographic
and travel information, two fingerprint scans
and a digital photograph, before being
allowed to enter the country.
Information from visitors is vetted against
databases from other agencies, such as the
Terrorist Threat Integration Center, which is
composed of elements from the CIA, FBI,
DHS and Defense Department. Mocny said
DHS plans to award a contract to Lockheed
Martin, Computer Sciences Corporation or
Accenture by the end of May to integrate
databases across government agencies so border inspectors can effectively screen visitors.
"We now have an opportunity to modify how people come into the U.S., how long they stay,
how we verify whether or not they did their part and what happens to them while they're here,"
Mocny said. "We have not had the opportunities and the funding to back those opportunities in
the years past."
However, immigration advocates fear that existing databases are riddled with inaccuracies that
will cause some visitors to be unfairly targeted.
A representative from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee said during a briefing
on US VISIT this week that databanks at the terrorist screening center are notorious for being
inaccurate.
Judith Golub, senior director of advocacy and public affairs for the American Immigration
Lawyers Association, said she is particularly concerned because FBI records do not have to
comply with accuracy regulations under the 1974 Privacy Act.
Last March, the FBI announced that it was exempting databases within its National Crime
Information Center, Central Records System and National Center for the Analysis of Violent
Crime from accuracy requirements of the Privacy Act. The agency said the exemptions were
necessary because "it is impossible to determine in advance what information is accurate,
relevant, timely and complete."
Golub said visitors to the U.S. might find their information being vetted against inaccurate FBI
data, causing confusion and detentions.
FBI spokesman Paul Bresson confirmed Wednesday that the exemptions are in place. He said
many law enforcement agencies seek similar exemptions, and the FBI did not receive a single
comment when it originally announced the exemptions. He said it is "administratively impossible"
to ensure the accuracy of all records entered into FBI databases because, for example, more than
80,000 officials are authorized to use the NCIC.
However, he stressed that the FBI "strongly encourages" all users to enter accurate and timely
information.
"While we do have these exemptions, by no means should anyone get the impression that we are
relaxing our position on the timeliness and accuracy of records," Bresson said. "We feel that is
extremely important. And, of course, the more accurate and timely information is, the more
effective law enforcement can be."
Mocny acknowledged that existing databases have inaccurate information, such as misspelled
names and incorrect biographical data. He said the department believes that an integrated
database of biometrical information, such as fingerprint scans, will greatly reduce the number of
false identifications while increasing positive identifications. For example, 21 people have been
caught to date for giving false biographical information when their fingerprints were vetted through
the US VISIT program, he noted.
"As we can increase the number of biometrics stored within the system, that really begins to cut
down the number of false hits that we get," Mocny said.
Why you do not want your records in the US-VISIT program, especially if by mistake. The data is compared with the consulate data (visas) at the port of entry into the US. If no data was collected at the consulates abroad, there is no obvious match. No good. Furthermore, the data inserted by 80,000 FBI personnel is inaccurate!
Avoid being a potential victim.
Inaccurate databanks pose challenge for new visitor tracking
system
By Chris Strohm
cstrohm@govexec.com
The Homeland Security Department is
undertaking a massive effort to integrate more
than two dozen criminal and terrorist
databanks as part of a new immigration
tracking system, but some immigration
advocates fear inaccurate information will
cause problems for people entering the
country.
The department plans to integrate 27 different
biographical databases and one biometric
database this year to make the U.S. Visitor
and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology
(US VISIT) program work, said Robert
Mocny, the program's deputy director. US
VISIT was launched Monday at 115 airports
and 14 ship terminals, and requires visitors
with nonimmigrant visas to give biographic
and travel information, two fingerprint scans
and a digital photograph, before being
allowed to enter the country.
Information from visitors is vetted against
databases from other agencies, such as the
Terrorist Threat Integration Center, which is
composed of elements from the CIA, FBI,
DHS and Defense Department. Mocny said
DHS plans to award a contract to Lockheed
Martin, Computer Sciences Corporation or
Accenture by the end of May to integrate
databases across government agencies so border inspectors can effectively screen visitors.
"We now have an opportunity to modify how people come into the U.S., how long they stay,
how we verify whether or not they did their part and what happens to them while they're here,"
Mocny said. "We have not had the opportunities and the funding to back those opportunities in
the years past."
However, immigration advocates fear that existing databases are riddled with inaccuracies that
will cause some visitors to be unfairly targeted.
A representative from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee said during a briefing
on US VISIT this week that databanks at the terrorist screening center are notorious for being
inaccurate.
Judith Golub, senior director of advocacy and public affairs for the American Immigration
Lawyers Association, said she is particularly concerned because FBI records do not have to
comply with accuracy regulations under the 1974 Privacy Act.
Last March, the FBI announced that it was exempting databases within its National Crime
Information Center, Central Records System and National Center for the Analysis of Violent
Crime from accuracy requirements of the Privacy Act. The agency said the exemptions were
necessary because "it is impossible to determine in advance what information is accurate,
relevant, timely and complete."
Golub said visitors to the U.S. might find their information being vetted against inaccurate FBI
data, causing confusion and detentions.
FBI spokesman Paul Bresson confirmed Wednesday that the exemptions are in place. He said
many law enforcement agencies seek similar exemptions, and the FBI did not receive a single
comment when it originally announced the exemptions. He said it is "administratively impossible"
to ensure the accuracy of all records entered into FBI databases because, for example, more than
80,000 officials are authorized to use the NCIC.
However, he stressed that the FBI "strongly encourages" all users to enter accurate and timely
information.
"While we do have these exemptions, by no means should anyone get the impression that we are
relaxing our position on the timeliness and accuracy of records," Bresson said. "We feel that is
extremely important. And, of course, the more accurate and timely information is, the more
effective law enforcement can be."
Mocny acknowledged that existing databases have inaccurate information, such as misspelled
names and incorrect biographical data. He said the department believes that an integrated
database of biometrical information, such as fingerprint scans, will greatly reduce the number of
false identifications while increasing positive identifications. For example, 21 people have been
caught to date for giving false biographical information when their fingerprints were vetted through
the US VISIT program, he noted.
"As we can increase the number of biometrics stored within the system, that really begins to cut
down the number of false hits that we get," Mocny said.