Watchdog notes scheduling issues with visitor-tracking project

The Homeland Security Department should establish a master schedule to better manage a six-part project to track foreigners leaving the United States, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office.

Currently, each component of the exit-tracking project has its own schedule, officials told GAO. The project is part of the broader U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program created in 2003 to gather biometric and biographic information on foreigners as they enter and leave the country. DHS has the capability to monitor visitor entries at 300 U.S. ports, but has yet to establish a comprehensive system for tracking departures.

The success of the exit-tracking portion "depends in part on having an integrated and reliable master schedule that defines, among other things, when work activities will occur, how long they will take and how they are related to one another," the report (GAO-10-13) stated. In addition to separate schedules for the project components, Accenture, the prime contractor for US VISIT, has its own timeline.

"DHS does not have a comprehensive project view of the work that must be, among other things, sequenced, timed, resourced and risk-adjusted to deliver the solution," GAO said. "Without such a view, a sound basis does not exist for knowing with any degree of confidence when and how the project will be completed."

The six parts are at varying degrees of completion, according to the report. DHS is addressing air and sea departures in four stages: the development of a system to collect, validate and store the biometric and biographic data for foreigners as they leave; the enhancement of the system to support reporting requirements identified by users; completion of pilot studies to evaluate the impact on airport operations; and the establishment of a final rule specifying how and when an operational air and sea exit solution will be implemented.

Land exits will be addressed in two steps: the creation of a system that captures the final departure of certain temporary workers at border crossings using outdoor kiosks, and the approval of a strategy for recording biometric information of foreigners upon exit.

A GAO analysis showed that DHS has built a biometric system for land and sea exits that meets reporting requirements, and has conducted pilot studies at airports. But the department has not finished the testing required before deployment. The department has developed the temporary worker visa exist system and it is undergoing testing. Officials completed a strategy for reading biometric information in November 2008, and it is currently under review.

DHS agreed with GAO's recommendation to establish and maintain an integrated master schedule for the comprehensive exit project, noting, "the operational date will be set once key decisions about critical details of [the exit program] are finalized."