Posted on 09/06/2002 1:48:28 PM PDT by Jean S
Even though the Justice Department has not yet implemented a planned system to ensure that foreign visitors leave the United States when their visas expire, the State Department has issued over 125,000 temporary visas allowing people from the non-Israeli Middle East to enter the U.S. since the terrorist attacks of last September 11.
In a document released to Human Events in April, the State Department reported that between Sept. 12, 2001, and March 31, 2002, it had given out 51,529 visas to non-Israeli Middle Easterners. (See April 8 cover story.) In a new document released to Human Events last week, the State Department reported that between April 1 and August 23 it had issued another 74,101 non-immigrant, or temporary, visas to nationals of Middle Eastern countries excluding Israel (officially called Near Eastern countries by State). An additional 58,535 visas were issued in Israel.
These numbers represent a significant drop from the year before. Between Sept. 12, 2000, and Aug. 23, 2001, the State Department issued 298,427 non-immigrant visas to non-Israeli Middle Easterners.
The Justice Department does not track the vast majority of these foreign visitors while they are here, nor does the government have any way of knowing if they leave when their visas expire.
"No," said Justice Department spokesman Jorge Martinez when asked if the government knows when foreign visitors leave. The entry-exit system will not be fully implemented until October 2004.
The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) estimates that 40% of the seven to 11 million illegal aliens currently residing in the United States entered this country legally on a visa and then simply stayed.
Martinez said that the government has no plans to monitor the vast majority of foreign visitors while they are here, even after the entry-exit system is fully implemented. However, a small number of foreign visitors will be monitored beginning this month. The first phase of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) will go into effect on September 11.
"After an initial 20-day period for testing and evaluating the system at selected ports of entry, all remaining ports of entry—including land, air and sea—will have the new system in place on Oct. 1, 2002," the Justice Department announced on August 12.
Unlike the full entry-exit system due to be implemented in October 2004, NSEERS is intended to cover only a small number of foreign visitors. "Under the NSEERS program, the fingerprints of a small percentage of entering foreign visitors will be matched against a database of known criminals and a database of known terrorists. These visitors will be selected according to intelligence criteria reflecting patterns of terrorist organizations’ activities," said the Justice Department.
So far, a pilot version of NSEERS has already captured a substantial number of criminals. "During a pilot project using the same fingerprint technology to identify wanted criminals attempting to re-enter the United States, the results have been extremely positive," said State. "The INS has been receiving an average of more than 70 fingerprint ‘hits’ a week, resulting in the arrest of more than 2,000 wanted felons from January through July 2002."
Martinez said that NSEERS will apply to all nationals of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria and to all others "who meet certain criteria." It will not apply, however, to all nationals of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the two countries that supplied all of the 19 September 11 hijackers. Yet, Martinez added that all those who fit the government’s profile will be fingerprinted, checked against a database of criminals and terrorists, monitored while they are here, and tracked down if they fail to leave the country on time.
"If they are [legally] here past 30 days," he said, "they have to submit information like rental agreements, pay stubs. . . . They have to go to an INS office to make an address change if they move."
State Department Bureau of Consular Affairs spokeswoman Kelly Shannon told Human Events in April that State does not refuse visas to any class of people, such as young men from Iraq. She said that visa applicants are run through the Consular Lookout and Support System (CLASS), which includes information from the FBI, foreign governments, and other sources. "They must clear the system or they cannot get a visa," she said.
Last week, Ed Dickens, a State Department press officer, would not elaborate on State’s screening procedures. "We do not explain or discuss security measures in detail," he said.
After the 9/11 attacks, Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft ordered U.S. attorneys to attempt to find and interview 4,793 men aged 18 to 33 from countries where al Qaeda is believed to be active and who had entered the United States after Jan. 1, 2000. On March 20, Ashcroft announced that approximately 1,800 could not be accounted for. Last week, Martinez said that 1,097 still had not been found.
UN FReekin believable?
History will record the year 2002 as the year morons administered America.
What possible justification can be conjured up for pure stupidity?
Even if only 1% mean us harm, that's still an additional 1250 Muslim Mass Murderers among us.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.