posted 01-12-2004 01:16 AM            

New anti-terror program contains hidden loophole
High-level memorandum orders 'mitigation' if travelers delayed
Posted: January 8, 2004

WASHINGTON – In rolling out the new US-VISIT program to fingerprint and screen foreign travelers, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge boasted that it ''pulls the welcome mat from terrorists.''

But not all the way or all the time, as it turns out.

A high-level memorandum from his department orders customs agents to stop fingerprinting as many travelers as needed to reduce ''delays and wait times'' caused by the the new program, which went into effect Monday at all 115 American airports that handle international flights.

The fine print of the the new antiterror plan reveals a "wait time mitigation strategy'' that requires agents to "cease the collection of biometrics" – digital fingerprints and photographs – on foreign passengers if processing ''wait times exceed one hour'' – even under terror threat level conditions of Orange or Red.

''In order to comply with the US-VISIT goal to expedite legitimate travel and trade, it is imperative that delays and wait times be kept to a minimum,'' said the Jan. 2 memo, a copy of which was obtained by WorldNetDaily.

The 6-page document – marked ''Law Enforcement Sensitive'' and titled "US-VISIT Implementation Plan for Jan. 5, 2004 (TC#BSF-0476)" – was issued by Jayson P. Ahern, the assistant commissioner of field operations for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security.

Agents fear deadline pressures defeat the purpose of the program, which is to enhance national security.

''What does this mean for the integrity of the system if we can start letting people go?'' asked a CBP supervisor at one of the nation's busiest international airports.

A DHS spokesman acknowledged the one-hour deadline, but noted that agents won't have any trouble meeting it thanks to advance passenger data from airlines.

''The rule is to expedite the process, the time in which the people go through the system,'' said DHS press secretary Brian Roehrkasse.

''But we're getting the data on passengers a lot sooner, so we have information about these people a long time before they land,'' he told WorldNetDaily. ''Hence, it's easier to get them through'' customs.

The supervisor, who asked to go unnamed, disagreed.

''That doesn't mean squat, because we still have to process them when they come through,'' he said, adding that it takes about two minutes to enroll each passenger in US-VISIT.

Ridge says the new program should add just 15 seconds to the entry process once agents become proficient at fingerprinting and photographing passengers.

Agents are also upset that Washington will be monitoring wait times and delays at the various ports. Each field office is required to submit wait-time statistics electronically, according to the memo.

Under pressure to keep delays down, they say managers might cut corners.

''The system is going to be discretionary,'' an agent at a major West Coast airport said. ''It won't apply to all flights and all passengers with a U.S. visa.''

''Management will pick and choose which flights will be checked according to the length of time in the processing line and number of passengers on the flight,'' he added. ''If flights come close to the one hour processing limit, US-VISIT will be temporarily suspended.''

Still, the DHS memo discourages any wholesale bypassing of the US-VISIT program to thin inspections lines. It calls for exempting passengers in increments based on age, visa type and other threat criteria.

''When wait times exceed one hour for that particular port and utilization of all proactive management practices have determined that mitigation is necessary, mitigation will be implemented in incremental steps,'' the memo states on page 4.

Agents say they are stunned that Washington is setting the deadline during the high threat alert.

''You would think that the new one-hour processing rule would be discontinued under level Orange, but it isn't,'' one agent said.

According to the memo, partial US-VISIT processing under level Orange or Red must be authorized at a high level. The memo gives that authority to Robert Jacksta, executive director of border security and facilitation for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Washington initially set the processing deadline for US-VISIT at two hours, according to a Dec. 9 document. Then as pilot programs at select airports experienced delays over the holidays, and the travel industry complained, the deadline was tightened to one hour, a CBP official says.

''Somehow the airline industry has convinced the Department of Homeland Security that flights can be processed in one hour or less with no damage to national security,'' he said.

US-VISIT, which stands for United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology, automatically exempts 27 mostly industrialized nations that participate in the reciprocal Visa Waiver Program.