NCJ Number
191798
Date Published
2001
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This report examined options and issues related to improving border security by strengthening the automated “lookout” system and processes employed to exclude persons who are known to be members or supporters of foreign terrorist organizations from entry into the United States.
Abstract
Border security and the threat of international terrorism are issues of intense congressional concern, as is evidenced by recent congressional hearings held to examine these issues in the 107th Congress. The challenge for policy makers is to provide for a level of border security that is commensurate with threats from abroad, while facilitating legitimate cross-border travel and commerce, and protecting civil liberties. To provide border security, a number of Federal agencies work in tandem. The State Department and the Federal inspection services, principally the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the U.S. Customs Service, have long maintained lookout books for the purpose of excluding “undesirable” persons, including suspected terrorists, from entry into the United States. While automated lookout books are an integral part of the border security equation, other measures can be taken to increase border security. This report was divided in to three sections: Statutory Authorities; Visa Issuance, Admissions, and Lookout Checks; and Options and Issues for Congress. The section on statutory authorities reviewed the relevant Federal authorities, the grounds of inadmissibility, the statutory definition of “terrorist activity,” and the process by which the State Department designates foreign terrorist organizations. The visa issuance section examined the efforts by the State Department and the Federal inspectional services to improve and computerize their systems. The final section presented five options discussed by international security specialists for strengthening the processes by which persons who are known to be members of supporters of foreign terrorist organizations are excluded from entry into the United States. Those options include: (1) making it more difficult to counterfeit and alter international travel documents; (2) increasing entry/exit control mechanisms at international ports of entry: (3) increasing staff and technology for consular and Federal inspection services; (4) enhancing record keeping on the visa status and whereabouts of foreign students in the United States; and (5) expanding the current visa lookout system to include data on members of international organized crime groups.