T5 B65 Gao Visa Docs 5 Of 6 Fdr- 12-6-01 Gao Meeting W Dos Re Gao Inquiry 816

Prepared by: Kate Brentzel Date: 12/07/01 3b Code: 320087

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Record of Interview Purpose

To present the scope of work, preliminary objectives, and project timeframes to the State Department.

Contact Method

In-person conference

Contact Place

State Department, Room 7427

Contact Date

December 6, 2001

Participants

GAO: John Brummet, Judy McCloskey, Kate Brentzel, Jody Woods State: See attached list

Comments/Remarks

John Brummet opened the conference with a brief description of the requested work and a description of the research that the team has done to date. He then outlined our five preliminary objectives and the type of initial data we would need for each objective. 1. How did the terrorists responsible for September 11 attacks obtain visas to enter the United State, and what scrutiny and controls were applied during the visa process? We asked if State had a report on how the 19 hy ackers from September 11 entered the U.S. Although Consular Affairs (CA) has information on the 19 hijackers' visas, it has not compiled a report on this. Mr. Lannon said that CA has sent visa records to INS and the FBI but not received any information or feedback from these agencies. He said that State could provide us with the replicated data sheets for the 19 hijackers. Senator Shelby has also requested a report on the lujackers and the visa procedures in place at the consulates where the visas were issued.

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Mr. Lannon said that the 19 terrorists from September 11 most likely used their true identities when they applied for visas and that they were all issued either a Bl or B2 visa. None of the hyackers produced a "hit" when their names were checked in the Consular Lookout and Support System (CLASS). Mr. Lannon said that the CIA passed along the names of two of the terrorists to the FBI but that the names were never given to State or put into CLASS. State has been fighting for 10 years to get information from the FBI and the CIA. The CIA has quadrupled the number of names it has provided for TIPOFF1 since September 11 but State said that a lot of them are old names or duplicates. Very few names have been put into CLASS through the Visa Viper program - and not one name in Saudi Arabia went into the system. The Patriot Act and the Foreign Terrorist Tracking Taskforce may alleviate the lack of information sharing between agencies. 2. Are State's policies and procedures for screening visa applicants reasonable given the risks, and what actions has State taken to tighten procedures since September 11, 2001? We asked for a briefing or documents that would describe changes made to the visa process since September 11. Mr. Lannon said that State has a good visa process in place. He said that there is a mystique surrounding the consular interview - that an officer would be able to look at an applicant and know that he or she is a terrorist is unlikely. The interview is useful in stopping economic migrants, the group that State has historically denied visas to. But for other groups, such as terrorists, State has looked to law enforcement agencies to provide it with enough information to stop these groups from obtaining visas. Catherine Barry said that the short answer to question 2 is that nothing has changed since September 11. CA has sent out reminders to consular officers to be aware of procedures but it has not changed any of those procedures or mandated that all applicants be interviewed. She said that State has continually improved its visa systems over the years. CA has improved its Arabic and Hispanic name algorithm and introduced a Slavic algorithm. When Justice requested that all 16-45 year old men from Islamic countries wait 20 days for a background check, it was easy for State to implement this. The qualifiers were put into the visa computer

TIPOFF is the International Terrorist and Criminal Namecheck System and Data Exchange. From State's website: "The Department of State's TIPOFF systems play a pivotal role in U.S. border security by serving as an interface between the highly classified holdings of the U.S. intelligence and law enforcement communities concerning terrorists and international organized crime members, and consular personnel abroad and port-ofentry inspectors."

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system so that these visas cannot be issued unless the 20-day waiting period and a background check has occurred. 3. Do consular operations have the trained staff, resources, information and technology to make the right decisions on the 9 million visa applications received annually? We described this as a "catch-all" question for training and technology concerns, including best practices from other countries. Mr. Lannon said that Commissioner Ziglar had agreed to have CLASS installed at all ports of entry by January 2002, although it is currently in use in only two ports. We asked if CA had data to show how many terrorists were denied visas. They said that the Bureau for Intelligence and Research (INR) could provide us with this information. Mr. Lannon said that there might be some staffing changes forthcoming. There are 135 consular associate positions worldwide that CA would like to convert into Foreign Service officer (FSO) positions. Consular associates are usually family members of FSOs. CA is ready to finance 300 new consular positions (this includes the 135). However, there are problems with the plan. State's human resources department cannot hire and clear new FSOs fast enough to fill the new positions and many embassies simply lack the physical space to accommodate more staff. 4. How do the Departments of State, Justice, and other agencies ensure Canada and the 29 countries participating in the visa waiver program have sufficient controls in place to justify the U.S. policy of not requiring a visa for citizens of these countries to enter the U.S.? Should the visa waiver program be scaled back? The Departments of State and Justice are currently investigating six visa waiver countries to assess whether they should still be included in the program. Teams have completed tours of two countries but have not drafted reports yet. Action based on those reports could take even longer. The implication for staffing would depend on the country, hi the case of Argentina (initial reaction from the team that went to Argentina is that it is on a slippery slope due to economic instability), it would not be too difficult for consular services to begin issuing visas again. The amount of visas issued in Argentina was never very large and many Argentines still hold valid 10 year multiple entry visas. The impact would be greater in high-volume posts. State did an impact study last year, which concluded that in other countries it could take 3 years before they could engage in visa issuance again. Mr. Lannon said that proposed legislation by Senators Kennedy, Feinstein, and Kyi might make the visa waiver program a moot point. The bill would require the visa waiver countries to issue tamper-resistant, machinereadable passports in one year. Furthermore, the bill would require that, after 2 years, all countries that participate in the program include

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biometric data on their passports. The U.S. would set this biometric standard, although there does not seem to be agreement on what type of data to include. The State Department favors facial recognition biometric data.

Facial Recognition Biometric Data

State was already experimenting with facial recognition software before the September 11 attacks. It tested the utility of facial recognition for the Diversity Visa program in an attempt to catch applicants who applied for a DV more than once. State also used facial recognition in some high fraud posts to see if applicants who were denied visas applied again. Facial recognition has worked well when a limited number of photographs are in the system but it breaks down if millions of photographs have to be processed. Since key facial features such as hairlines must be visible in the photographs, headdresses must be removed before the photographs are taken. 5. How is the State Department participating in interagency forums to improve border security and is it effectively supporting the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Department of Justice? We did not discuss this objective in detail.

Documents/Briefings Requested

Ms. Barry will set up several briefings for us. She will get Jean Louis in INR/IC to demonstrate how Visa Viper leads feed into TIPOFF. Ms. Louis can also provide us with data on the number of terrorists that have been denied visas and she will show us the new visa foil. We will also see demonstrations of the facial recognition software and CLASS. We should contact Michael Chang in the H bureau to get the replicated data sheets on the 19 hijackers and also for the report that is being prepared for Senator Shelby. The primary contact for our work will be George Lannon.

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