Department of Homeland Security Outsources National Security
In typical Bush administration fashion, the US-Visit Program is an ongoing cluster f*** which Bush wants in place by August 2009. The 34 countries involved are urging Bush to stop the program, stating “the job of boarder and port security should not be the responsibility or cost of the airline and shipping industry.” That’s crazy talk. Why the heck would Bush expect the U.S. Government to fund a U.S. security program for civilians, and American companies responsible for protecting the homeland?
According to the Washington Post
Airlines said the change would cost the industry $12.3 billion over 10 years, not $3.5 billion as the Department of Homeland Security estimated in unveiling the proposal in April. Representatives of the nations affected said it is the duty of the U.S. government, not private companies, to enforce immigration and border security laws, and they raised privacy concerns about companies collecting fingerprints.
“This proposal to outsource the core government function of border control at a time that airlines around the world are fighting for their economic survival is both unwarranted and counterproductive,”
- The alliance, whose 230 members include 78 that fly to and from the United States, said airlines and passengers have spent $30 billion for often duplicative and bureaucratic security measures since 9/11.
- “This uncoordinated and costly mess can no longer be dismissed as simply ‘the cost of doing business,’ ” Bisignani said. He called on DHS to integrate and streamline five passenger-data-collection programs that include reservation system data, passenger manifest information and immigration and customs forms.
Clive Wright, a senior British Embassy official in Washington, wrote on behalf of 34 governments, saying they “are seriously concerned” about the new fingerprint mandate for private companies. He argued that the requirements pose privacy, liability and business risks to airlines far more costly and difficult than any issues they now face in handling immigration issues.
- “The implications . . . are so severe they require further consultation, reflection and reworking,” Wright told DHS in written remarks for a June 13 meeting that were later released.
In a message Wednesday to the State Department, the German Embassy said that the collection of fingerprints by private companies should “only be the last resort” and that DHS should maintain full custody over sensitive personal data.
Not to mention the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has written several reports on the Department of Homeland Securities (DHS) US-Visit program. The two most recent reports, December 2006 and February 2008, the GAO’s reported the DHS program “Faces Strategic, Operational, and Technological Challenges at Land Ports of Entry.”
December 2006 report:
“An interim nonbiometric exit technology being tested does not meet the statutory requirement for a biometric exit capability and cannot ensure that visitors who enter the country are those who leave.”
February 2008 report:
“US-VISIT program office has yet to fully define its relationships with other immigration and border management programs. As a result, the department is at increased risk of introducing the inefficiencies and reduced effectiveness that result from suboptimizing how these programs collectively support its immigration and border management goals and objectives.”
So there you have it. Chertoff and Rice have a brilliant plan to appease the GAO, put the burden of collecting digital fingerprints and the cost of protecting U.S. boarders on foreign business.
Further reading and resources:
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Department of Homeland Security: US-VISIT
June 30th, 2008 at 4:18 am
[...] Department of Homeland Security Outsources National Security [...]
June 30th, 2008 at 8:23 am
[...] NyTexan at BlueBloggin tell us how the Bush administration has hit the pinnacle of security chaos. We can rest easy now, knowing that we have outsourced the outsource; Department of Homeland Security Outsources National Security [...]
June 30th, 2008 at 11:20 am
[...] NyTexan at BlueBloggin tell us how the Bush administration has hit the pinnacle of security chaos. We can rest easy now, knowing that we have outsourced the outsource; Department of Homeland Security Outsources National Security [...]