Auditors fault visa waiver decisions

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WASHINGTON - The Homeland Security Department used outdated information when it decided to continue letting visitors from 27 countries enter the U.S. without visas, congressional investigators said in a report Tuesday.

After reviews in 2004, the department decided the visa waiver program should continue for all 27 countries participating in it.

The reviews, however, did not always contain timely information on the latest risks posed by the participating countries, the Government Accountability Office, Congress' investigative arm, said Tuesday.

The investigators said the assessments were done from May to September 2004, and a final report was sent to Congress more than a year later, in November 2005.

Under the visa waiver program, business travelers and tourists from 27 nations may enter the United States for months using only a passport. In return, U.S. residents can enter those countries with only a passport.

The program came under scrutiny after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, although none of the hijackers entered the U.S. through it. President Bush has said he wants to add more countries to the program.

Congress in 2002 ordered a review of security risks posed by participating countries. The Homeland Security Department created an Office of International Enforcement to conduct the reviews, which began two years later and are to be done every two years.

The GAO said the two employees assigned to the office aren't enough to monitor risks in participating countries effectively. Homeland Security could make better use of existing resources by establishing points of contact within U.S. embassies, it added.

The office did stop the acceptance of temporary German passports, but has had trouble obtaining information on lost and stolen passports, the GAO said.

Although homeland security officials want countries to report lost and stolen passports to Interpol, the U.S. has no mechanism for countries to do so. Four of the countries don't report such information to Interpol and some do not report it on a regular basis, the GAO said.

Jarrod Agen, an agency spokesman, said many issues identified in the GAO report have been addressed. He said countries are evaluated individually and allowed to participate in the program only when they meet requirements of U.S. immigration law and mandates from Congress.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., requested the GAO report. He said he was concerned about the gaps in reporting lost and stolen passports and he suggested adding more employees to the Office of International Enforcement.

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