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In the House of Representatives

January 3, 2008

ms. Novikova submitted the following bill, which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security.

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A BILL

 To provide for monitoring of entry into the United States by foreign nationals, prevent visa overstays, and for other purposes.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PAGE MODEL CONGRESS,

Section 1. Short Title.

This Act may be cited as the Border Security and Modernization Act.

Sec. 2. Findings.

Congress finds that:

(1)                           The United States of America faces global challenges in the 21^st Century, and more than ever it is important to secure the borders. 

(2)                           Currently, approximately 11 million illegal immigrants reside in the United States, out of a total population of 281 million.

(3)                           65% of illegal immigrants are visa overstays, i.e. individuals who entered the U.S. legally but stayed beyond the period for which they were authorized to live in the country.

(4)                           The United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Identification Technology program (hereafter US-VISIT) has begun issuing I-94s with RFIDs and biometric information.

a.     This program is in effect in only 285 of 327 official U.S. ports of entry (hereafter POEs)[1], including 154 of 170 land POEs[2], though land POEs constitute 79% of all US border crossings (approximately 420 million annually)[3].

b.     The program keeps no information of individual foreign visits; the only data stored in databases is biometric information tied to an individual serial number in the RFID of a traveler’s I-94. This data is compared to several “lookout” databases used in the Interagency Border Inspection System (IBIS).

c.      RFIDs are not tied to individual travelers, so while an individual’s  I-94 may be recorded as having left the country, the individual in question may be at another location[4].

(5)                           In order for the Justice department to have the capability to prosecute visa overstays, it must have accurate information on individuals who have entered and exited the country.

Section III. Creation of a National Database of International Visits to the United States.
The United States Customs and Immigration Service is charged with expanding the US-VISIT database to record every international visit to the United States by foreign nationals to meet the following specifications:

(1)   Terminals are to be located at every point of entry, including international airports, sea ports, and along the borders.

(2)   All I-94s must include RFIDs, following specifications of the US-VISIT program.

(3)   The Database is to include the following information:

a.     All information currently collected by the US-VISIT (United States Visitor and Immigration Status Identification Technology) program, including biometric information (10-fingerprint set, digital photograph, and iris scan)

b.     I-94 information: full name, date of birth, country of citizenship, sex, passport number, airline and flight number (when applicable), country of lawful permanent residence, city where boarded(when applicable), city  of visa issuance, date issued, and address in the United States

c.      Date of entry and exit of the United States, POE of entry and exit of the U.S, and term length of visa.

(4)   The database is to be capable of running a daily report of all outstanding visa overstays.

(5)   Data is to be stored on every foreign national with a nonimmigrant visa and those falling under the Visa Waiver Program with the following exceptions:

a.     Canadian citizens traveling under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative

b.     Mexican citizens traveling for no more than 30 days and within the Department of Homeland Security “border zone.”

c.      Children under 14 falling under the Visa Waiver Program.

(6)   Privacy protections under the 1974 Privacy Act are to be applied to the information collected for this database, in continuation of US-VISIT policy, except visa overstays. Once a foreign national overstays his or her visa, his or her information is to be made available without warrant to all agencies under IBIS, including but not limited to, the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Agency, Interpol, the Secret Service, and the Coast Guard. Present policy is continued under the 2000 Data Management Improvement Act[5].

(7)     Any other specifications are to be determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security.

Section IV. Funding.
Funds for the creation of this program are authorized at the value of $17,000,000 for FY09 and $8,500,000[6] every year thereafter for the duration of the program.[7] ^[8]

(1)   $200,000 is designated for central hardware expansion.

(2)   $500,000 is designated for terminal hardware expansion, with $1,500 for each of the 327 official ports of entry to the United States.

(3)   $3,000,000 is designated for building, testing, and constructing the expanded system.

(4)   $820,000 is designated for training personnel in use of the system, at $2,500 for each port of entry.

Funds for the development of a US-VISIT exit program are authorized at the value of $3 billion for FY08[9].

Section V.  Implementation

The expanded entry system of US-VISIT should be implemented in the 100 highest volume POEs by Dec. 31^st 2010, and at all POEs by Dec. 31^st 2012.

The US-VISIT exit should be defined and designed with a detailed proposal for implementation by Dec. 31^st 2009.