Visa Waiver Program now includes daily database check
More frequent database checks for Visa Waiver Program applicants is helping to prevent a potential blind spot, CBP's chief said.
A change to how Customs and Border Protection vets applicants for the Visa Waiver Program is helping prevent a potential blind spot in the process, the agency's chief told a House panel on March 1.
CBP began implementing a number of procedural changes to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) in January to comply with the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015. For instance, travelers from Syria, Iran and Iraq are no longer eligible for the program and must apply for a visa instead. In mid-February, the State Department added Libya, Somalia and Yemen to the restricted list.
A visa requires applicants to undergo a more extensive security check, and the new ESTA form contains more detailed questions about Visa Waiver Program applicants.
CBP Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske told the House Appropriations Committee that previously CBP only conducted an initial review of Visa Waiver Program applications, but now applicants "are vetted every 24 hours against a series of databases" to ensure they don't show up on one later, Kerlikowske said.
The screening is done by CBP's National Targeting Center, the agency's primary point of contact between the Terrorist Screening Database and agents in CBP field offices and other government agencies.
Kerlikowske told lawmakers that he has requested funding for an additional 40 people for the center, which "is a real jewel" in CBP's arsenal.
However, he came under fire for lowering the proposed number of Border Patrol agents in fiscal 2017 by 300 from fiscal 2016 levels, with a suggested target of 21,070 in 2017.
Kerlikowske said the staffing levels were more realistic and the savings would allow his agency to invest in modernizing radio communications gear and vehicles. CBP wants to invest $54 million in its tactical voice communications system, the largest system of its kind in the country. Officials have said much of the equipment is beyond its useful life expectancy and must be replaced.