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Jody Woods - RE: data request Page 1 I

From:To:Date:Subject:

"Fischel, Stephen"'Jody Woods'07/17/20022:04!RE: data request

an K"l4PM~~

i will seewhat i can find out. remember some hits are created to findoutwhen someone travels or are often based on extremely little information,in regard to these, it may be very tough to find this out. i will getbackto yuo on this. \- Original Message ----.From: Jody Woods [mailto[Sent: Wednesday. July 17. 2002 11:51 AM""Subject: RE: data request

Thanks. I also have another question. As I was reading through State's2003 Congressional Presentation Document, I noticed that 79 of 178 tru^TIPOFF hits in FYO1 were not denied under 212(a)3(b) due to insufficientinformation. (See p.373) What ultimately happened to these cases? Howmany were issued? How many were denied and on what grounds? \, Stephen K" {_07/16/2002 6:01:30PI\y not. wehave been a bit overrun, but i have not f

you. 'Original MessageFrom: Jody Woods [mailtqSent: Tuesday. July 16.2002 6:16 PMTo:l "~ '.

Subject: RE: data request Personal Privacy

Hi Steve,We haven't heard back from you in a while. Any luck finding theinformation we requested?- JodyJody WoodsU.S. General Accounting Office .441 G. St., NWWashington, DC 20548

"Fischel, Stephen K" < J _ _} 06/21/2002 4:02:41 PMjody, i have requested the info, but it is not as readily available asihadhoped, i hope to have something for you by monday. appreciate your

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United States Department of State

C i t U CONGRESSIONALPRESENTATION DOCUMENT

Fiscal Year 2003t..

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DIPLOMATIC & CONSULAR PROGRAMS

Consular AffairsOVERV IEW STA TEMENTThe missionof the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) is to assist Americans abroad, facilitate internationaltravel, and protect our borderspursuant to statutory mandates: To administer laws, formulate regulations and implementpolicies relating to the broad rangeof

consular servicesprovided toAmerican citizens abroad; Toissue passports toU.S. citizens; and To formulateand implement policies relating to immigration and toadminister theprovisions of the

Immigration and Nationality Act as they relate to the Department of State in coordination with the U.S.Immigration and Naturalization Service.

NATIONAL INTERESTS & GOALSPriority: Support U. S. citizens abroad and those concerned aboutthem in the U. 5.Performance Goals: A.Prepare for and respond to crises abroad, aviation disasters, and other situations inwhich US citizens need consular services. B.Maintain information services to UScitizens. C.Assist in theresolution of international parental child abductioncases. D. Develop and enhance databases to track allcitizen services case activities. E. Implement Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. F.Workwith U.S. federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities and foreign authorities to achieve compliancewith consular notification and access provisions of Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and bilateraltreaties.Indicators: A.Availability of automated case-tracking systems.Consular information systems are accurateand available tousers. B. Implementation of international conventions. Level ofoutreachtopublic andstakeholders.Progress (asof January 2002): We deployed a CrisisManagement modulefor useby task forces toimprove service toAmericans during crises. Following 9/11, we provided assistance toNewYork Cityofficials dealing with the deaths of foreigners in the World Trade Center andstaffed task forces to deal withAmericans stranded overseasby the closure of US air space, setting up additional Task Force sites in thebureau. Running up to three training sessions per day, CA trained 250 employees on the use of the newcase tracking system.We kept Americans apprised of information that may affect their safety and security overseas by ensuringthat posts' systems for contacting Americans abroad in acrisiswere up-to-date and that accurateinformation wasavailable, consistent with USG domestic information and conveyed to Americans overseasin a factual but non-alarmist manner. We issued 65 Travel Warnings, 120 Public Announcements, and 189Consular InformationSheets. CA's web site received 117.9 million hits, 30.7 millionmore than in FYOO.90% of users found the information helpful. We held 69briefings for stakeholder groups, includinginternational student program participants, travel agents, and parents whose children were taken abroad bythe other parent.

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our goal of training 40% of our staff during2001.We continuedto use technologyto enhance both thesecurity and efficiencyofpassport operations. The last six domestic passport-issuing offices received thenew photodigLtization passport issuance system thatincorporates the use of printed digital photos andrelated security devices resulting in greatly improved passport security. We began to research ways toefficiently bring this new technologyto overseas issuances. Wecompleted implementationof PFMWeb,Jvrfrich provides employees nationwide with desktop electronic access to full-color digital imagesof

- passport records stored inWashington. We implemented the Passport Lookout Tracking System, which is < designed to virtually replicate roughly100,000 fraud files in real-timeto any authorized user. We completed software to deploy the Consular Lost an d Stolen Passport (CLASP) database system allowingJposts abroad to enter losses and thefts of US passports.Since September11, we have intensified efforts tojj improveelectronic data sharing with other border security agencies (Customs, INS and APHIS). We./enhanced our web site with a Passport Acceptance Facility Database searchable by zip code to help/customers locate the nearest place to applyfor a passport. In2001,352post offices, libraries, andother state

aid local government offices signed up to accept passport applications,with a growing number also , offering the option of on-site passport photos.We revised the Passport Agent's Reference Guide to keep the

more than 5,300 passport-application acceptance facilities advised of changes in policy and procedure. We^assisted over a dozen foreign countries in their efforts to improve their national passports and/or their, internal controls over passport issuance. This has a direct and beneficial effect on the USvisa process as

s * well as US border security since improved passports are harderto alter andcounterfeit.:J Priority: Facilitate the travel and immigration to the U. S. of legitimate VISA applicants and the denialill of VISAS to ineligible applicants.'"

.Performance Goals: A Meet demandfor nonimmigrant and immigrant visas, accommodating workloadincreases resulting from new legislative mandates. B. Improvemanagement of core consular functions,

'' 'maximize technology, improve business practices, and ensure training of consular personnel. C. Share dataJ,with law enforcementandintelligence agencies and reduce the risk of illegitimate entry of aliens inimical to

~ US interests by using all-source informationjrom throughout the USG to identify foreign terrorists an dI criminals. ' M > ,^vl (njo

/ Indicators: A Immigrant Visa Cases. Non-Immigrant Visa Cases. Service enhancements. B.Statusofname check enhancements.

Progress (as of January 2002): Th e decrease in immigrant visa (IV) case numbers from 669,872 in FYOOto 628,762 in FY01 was due to the extremely heavy demand from INS for visa numbers to adjust the statusof large numbers of aliens already in the US. The nonimmigrant visa (NIV) demand in FY01 reached j " ' '10,596,194 and was higher than projected, despite the disruption to international travelafter 9/11.Th e Border BiometricProgram processed 2333,967 Border Crossing Cards. Since Congress did not extend thedeadline on which Border Crossing Cards without biometric indicators expired, demand for new cardssurged The event that had the greatest impact on visa processing prior to September 11 was the passage ofthe Legal Immigration Family Equity Act, which created two new nonimmigrant visa categories. The firstof these new visas was issued on April 1,2001, and by the end of FY01 posts abroad hadprocessed almost34,000 of them.Beginning in 1996, using funds derived from Machine Readable Visa fees, weundertooka majormodernization of consular systems.By March2001,all visa data collected abroadwas being replicated tothe Consular Consolidated Database(CCD). to Mayj2ppl? consularofficers abroad gained access to theCCD. The_details of visa issuance, once available onlyJo thejxst taking acticttvamnQw available injeal-%lJS^XisA,Qffices^oBidwi(ie arid.TOnsular management n>Washington.This data and the associatedflgitaXphotograpb&of NIV applicants proved tobe critical to our ability to support the^antl-terrorist task,^Orc j8eijSeptember 11. As FY02 began, we had searched over 900nonimmigrant visa records at the

. (W,

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DIPLOMATIC &CONSULARPROGRAMS

the INS forensic document lab, and are prepared to share all replicated non-immigrant visa files in the CCDassoon as INS is readytoreceive them.We enhancedthe capabilitiesof the namecheck system by deploying a Russo-Slavic namecheck algorithm.Since February 2001, information on all lost and stolen foreign passports reported to State has been enteredinto the Consular Lookout and Support System (CLASS) and transmitted to the Interagency BorderInspection System (IBIS). We developed an e-form by which posts can report lost/stolen/missing foreignpassports with US visas in them, resulting in a 500% increase in notifications. Transmission of informationon lost and stolen US passports to IBIS began in London. We enhanced Diplomatic Security's connectionto CLASStoprovide support for increasing security needs. Washington-based agents now have desktopaccess to CLASS.Wehave long sought "seriousviolator" data from the US Customs Service and gained final agreement withCustoms for the transfer of approximately 18,000 lookouts beginning in early inFY02. The lookouts come *from Customsthrough its direct electronic link to IBIS. CLASS already transmits its most serious lookoutselectronically to IBIS for useby INS and other border inspection agencies.In FY01, Canadawith whichwehave shared terrorist lookout information since 1998,began reciprocalsharingvia theTIPOFF, a counter-terrorism tool maintainedby the Bureau ofIntelligence and Research(INK) utilising sensitive intelligence and law enforcement information contributed by the CIA,NSAandFBI towatchlistknown orsuspected terrorists. TIPOFF can add lookouts directly to the CLASS namecheckdatabase,where they are immediately available to Foreign Service posts worldwide. TIPQFF recordscurrently comprise over48.000 of the 5.8million entrie^ jligjsJ3iJlieCI^ASS_systemViA t

j(_ji entries,held to ahigher standardof"biographicdatajis alsaenteredin the.V^^sy^emTc^faleTbyiNSa^C^oras. There are over23J3QQ TIPQPF entries in IBIS. In FYOpreliminary figures indicate that there have been IT^trueJlPOFFhits fo r visa applicants checked throughCLASS. Of those, 81 weredenied, 14abandonedltheirapplications,and four withdrew applications. Therewas JnuffidenhjJ^Sation in the 6tiier.c ses to.ipake a findirig of jineligibility under Section 212 (a)(3)(B)

L ofthe immigration andKfannnaKiy Act. TIPOFF (via the IBIS system.) yielded 86 truehits from dsl*""*""*"*"^terrorism database at ports of entry inFY01. Of these, 38 of the individuals in question were denied entry,\d onewas arrested. Three were paroled for operational reasons, and 23were questioned and admitted.I There was insufficient information in the other cases to deny admission.The terrorist attacksofSeptember 11caused other agencies to share a great deal of information regardingterroristswith State. The number of TIPOFF entries into CLASS ranged from 256 to 364 in June throughAugust 2001. InSeptember, 990entries were made. In early FY02, the President directed the creation of ;\n interagencyFprocess. Stateisworking closely with the FU'll- and the Homeland Security Council onthis issueandothersrelated to US border security.Again this year, weworkedwith the Department of Justice (INS and FBI) on legislation thatwould giveconsular and immigrationofficers access to certain crime information. We were not successful in having abill introduced until after September 11. This andother provisionswe had sought were included in theUSAPATRIOTAct, enacted early inFY02. Consular officers now will have access to certain lawenforcement and intelligence information that will aid in efforts tokeep terrorists and other criminals out ofthe United States.

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