re: "Drug Cartels Have No Fear Of CBP"

The blogger-formerly-known-as-Federal-Agent-86 at Federale ("That Is The Sound Of Inevitability") examined a vulnerability in our border security.

Money quote(s):

"A top Mexican drug cartel leader was recently busted by the Port Isabel Police Department, a small town, population 5,000, agency on the Texas gulf coast near the party town of South Padre Island.

Rafael Vela, who is also the nephew of a former cartel leader, apparently entered the United States by the simple expedient of using someone else's passport."

That happens.

What should also happen is that if the passport holder has a current U.S. visa, there should be a biometric record (photographic and fingerprint) on electronic file from the time of their visa interview.

"CBP uses US VISIT, the biometric system for aliens who apply for visas, apply to enter the United States and who are arrested by DHS. Except that CBP, because of pressure from the Mexican government, illegal alien advocates, border merchants,Texas politicians, and drug cartels, does not use US VISIT at land Ports-of-Entry, e.g. land border entries. If US VISIT had been in use at the port where Vela entered, he would not have been arrested by an overworked small town police department, but by CBP itself. But CBP is not interested in doing its job of stopping drug dealers and terrorists, it is more interested in fostering cross-border commerce and enabling the Regime's Administrative Amnesty"

US VISIT works. But you have to actually be using it for it to work.

10/26

re: " "Nuclear terror risk to Britain from al-Qaeda": How's that student visa system working?"

Marisol at Jihad Watch ("Jihad Watch is dedicated to bringing public attention to the role that jihad theology and ideology plays in the modern world, and to correcting popular misconceptions about the role of jihad and religion in modern-day conflicts. We hope to alert people of good will to the true nature of the present global conflict.") highlights a crucial differences in how student visas are issued.

Money quote(s):

"After the failed Christmas attack on Northwest Flight 253, it was revealed that, in the U.K., they "now issue 370,000 student visas a year - almost the entire population of Bristol or Manchester - yet hardly any of the applicants ever see hide nor hair of an Immigration Officer." "

Nearly every applicant for a U.S. student visa must undergo a personal interview before being issued a visa. Further, the student must already have been accepted at a U.S. school, have enrolled in SEVIS, and at the time of the interview will undergo both name and biometric checks including both fingerprint and facial recognition.

It used to not be so rigorous, but that was before 9/11.

SI.CH - Expert warns e-passports are open to abuse

From my archive of press clippings:

SwissInfo.ch

Expert warns e-passports are open to abuse

April 24, 2009 - 8:39 AM

Plans for a new passport have sparked debate over the inclusion of an electronic chip containing biometric details, and the creation of a central fingerprint database.

Read the whole article here.

_____

swissinfo-interview: Urs Geiser

re: "Immigration Reform with the Stroke of a Pen"

Angelo at Nation of Immigrators ("A public policy blog on our dysfunctional immigration system") has some suggestions for immigration reform.

I hate the following:

"Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, could declare that all visa interviews by American consular officers would be video-recorded. This would help in two important ways. The federal government would capture biometric data on every interviewed applicant, thereby improving national security, and every consular officer (knowing that the interview could be viewed by superiors in Washington and by Congress) would have a (now-nonexistent) inducement to be fair in posing questions and allowing answers. "