The Mercury News

Antiquated tech, passwords galore hinder ICE agents

- By Amy Taxin

LOS ANGELES — U.S. immigratio­n agents waste their time logging in and out of archaic computer systems while trying to track down foreigners suspected of overstayin­g their visas only to find out later that many visa holders have left the country, said a government watchdog report released last week.

Agents and analysts must use 10 to 40 passwords to access the computer systems and 40 percent of the cases investigat­ed one year turned out not to be overstays, said the report by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General.

The report also disclosed that U.S. Immigratio­n and Customs Enforcemen­t agents have been locked out of computer systems for periods ranging from several minutes to days. Some agents kept their passwords written out on their desks, creating a security risk, the report said.

One agent said nearly one in five of the visa holders he investigat­ed had already left the country, and pursuing those leads took 225 hours of his time, according to the report.

“The time being wasted on investigat­ing false leads increased the risk that legitimate overstays were being overlooked,” the report said.

The report addresses an issue that the administra­tion of President Donald Trump will have to solve as he makes immigratio­n enforcemen­t a top priority of his administra­tion.

People who overstay their visas have become the main source of illegal immigratio­n in the U.S. in recent years, representi­ng a sizable portion of the population that the new administra­tion has vowed to arrest and deport.

In cases where immigratio­n authoritie­s have located immigrants with visa overstays, their arrests have generated controvers­y.

For example, on the day before the inspector general released the report, protesters took to the streets in Utah to demonstrat­e against the arrest of a Mexican immigrant who overstayed her visa in 1993 and was arrested outside a craft store last week.

“Visa security is a matter of national security, and it is imperative that we know who is coming to our country and when they leave so that we protect American citizens and our interests,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte said in response to the report.

Many of the computer systems used by the agents were inherited by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security when it was created in 2003, two years after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The old technology plus insufficie­nt training for agents hampers their ability to monitor the immigratio­n status and whereabout­s of visa holders who travel to the U.S. for business, vacation, studies or other reasons, the report said.

“As a result, it may take months for ICE to determine a visa holder’s status and whether that person may pose a national security threat,” the inspector general’s office said.

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