Critical Releases in Homeland Security: July 11, 2007

"Since 1996, Congress has called on the Federal government to create a tracking system that could record the entry and exit of foreign nationals. With over 327 official land, air, or sea ports of entry and roughly 440 million total border crossings each year, tracking the entry and exit of foreign nationals is no small task. While several initiatives were started, in 2003, the Department of Homeland Security created the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology or 'US-VISIT,' system to meet the original statutory mandate as well as many other laws, including requirements for a biometric system. US-VISIT is an important part of the Department's layered border security approach and fight against terrorist travel. In ten years, our nation's entry-exit system has gone from a mostly paper-based system to an automated program that now uses biometrics and draws on a number of databases. Since January 2004, US-VISIT has processed more than 76 million visitors and intercepted approximately 1,800 immigration violators and people with criminal records. ICE apprehended 139 aliens based on overstay records identified by US-VISIT in FY 2006 and the numbers are anticipated to rise as biometrics become more prevalent."

"Congress has repeatedly shown interest in examining and expanding the barriers being deployed along the U.S. international land border. The 109th Congress passed a number of laws affecting these barriers, and oversight of these laws and of the construction process may be of interest to the 110th Congress. The United States Border Patrol (USBP) deploys fencing, which aims to impede the illegal entry of individuals, and vehicle barriers, which aim to impede the illegal entry of vehicles (but not individuals) along the border. The USBP first began erecting barriers in 1990 to deter illegal entries and drug smuggling in its San Diego sector. The ensuing 14 mile-long San Diego 'primary fence' formed part of the USBP's 'Prevention Through Deterrence' strategy, which called for reducing unauthorized migration by placing agents and resources directly on the border along population centers in order to deter would-be migrants from entering the country. In 1996, Congress passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act which, among other things, explicitly gave the Attorney General (now the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security) broad authority to construct barriers along the border and authorized the construction of a secondary layer of fencing to buttress the completed 14 mile primary fence. Construction of the secondary fence stalled due to environmental concerns raised by the California Coastal Commission. In 2005, Congress passed the REAL ID Act that authorized the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to waive all legal requirements in order to expedite the construction of border barriers. DHS has since announced it will use this waiver authority to complete the San Diego fence. The Secure Fence Act of 2006 directed DHS to construct 850 miles of additional border fencing."

From the Summary: "The value proposition for fusion centers is that by integrating various streams of information and intelligence, including that flowing from the federal government, state, local, and tribal governments, as well as the private sector, a more accurate picture of risks to people, economic infrastructure, and communities can be developed and translated into protective action. […] There are several risks to the fusion center concept - including potential privacy and civil liberties violations, and the possible inability of fusion centers to demonstrate utility in the absence of future terrorist attacks, particularly during periods of relative state fiscal austerity. […] Fusion centers are state-created entities largely financed and staffed by the states, and there is no one 'model' for how a center should be structured. [… ]This report includes over 30 options for congressional consideration to clarify and potentially enhance the federal government's relationship with fusion centers. One of the central options is the potential drafting of a formal national fusion center strategy that would outline, among other elements, the federal government's clear expectations of fusion centers, its position on sustainment funding, metrics for assessing fusion center performance, and definition of what constitutes a 'mature' fusion center. This report will be updated."

"All DoD officials involved in the Threat and Local Observation Notice (TALON) report program and all intelligence, counterintelligence, law enforcement, and force protection personnel should read this report. The report addresses the TALON report program as initially established and as currently implemented. We performed this audit in response to requests from Congresswomen Zoe Lofgren, on December 30, 2005, and Anna G. Eshoo, on January 12, 2006, on media reporting that DoD had developed and maintains a database for information on U.S. persons conducting domestic anti-war and counter-military protests and demonstrations."

"The DOJ Strategic Plan for FY 2007-2012 describes how we will use our resources. It assures the public that those resources will be devoted to our most critical mission areas, and that none will be wasted through duplicative or overlapping activities. The plan describes comprehensive, realistic, multiyear strategies for carrying out the Department's mission and meeting our responsibilities. It is oriented toward achieving our vision of securing equal justice for all, enhancing respect for the rule of law, and making America a safer and less violent nation. It provides to the President, the Congress, and the American people an overview of the problems and challenges the Department faces in the years ahead and the goals and objectives we have set for ourselves. It is a reaffirmation of our commitment to be responsible stewards of the American dream."