18 October 2007
United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology
Even Though This Program Infringes on Privacy, The United States Needs This Program to Fight Terrorism. Without This Database of Information, We Would Not Have The Data Needed to Refuse Entry to Those Who Have Been Found to Have Ties to Terrorism.
“Are we safer since September 11, 2001?” The American people want to feel safe, but they do not want to pay the price for such safety. Shortly after the attacks on 9/11 the United States Government responded with a program to track foreign nationals entering the United States. The US Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (U.S.-VISIT) Program was established and from the beginning, it has been met with bad publicity stating that the program alienates a person’s right to privacy. The US-VISIT Program may infringe upon privacy, but it is a vital tool in the fight against terrorism. Without the information US-VISIT supplies, we would not have the data needed to refuse entry to visitors who have been found to have ties to terrorism.
Upon its inception US-VISIT was to establish a national registry of foreign citizens visiting the United States. In January of 2002, US-VISIT took effect in 115 airports across the country. US-VISIT captures background, location, purpose of entry, and activities of foreign visitors. US-VISIT also allows the ability to track when the alien exits the United States.
The United States needs this information to fight terrorism. In a briefing December 1, 2003, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official stated, “U.S.-VISIT promotes several important national security objectives: (1) U.S.-VISIT allows the United States to run the fingerprints of aliens who may present elevated National security concerns against a database of wanted criminals and known terrorists; (2) U.S.-VISIT enables DHS to determine instantly when such an alien has overstayed...