Summarizes GAO¿s work on the Dept. of Homeland Security¿s (DHS) efforts to implement the U.S. Visitor & Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program at air, sea, & land ports of entry (POE). US-VISIT is designed to collect, maintain, & share data on selected foreign nationals entering & exiting the U.S. at air, sea, & land POEs. These data, including biometric identifiers like digital fingerprints, are to be used to screen persons against watch lists, verify identities, & record arrival & departure. This testimony addresses DHS¿s efforts to: implement US-VISIT entry capability; implement US-VISIT exit capability; & resolve long-standing mgmt. challenges that could impair DHS¿s ability to effectively implement the US-VISIT program. Charts & tables.

The Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program, managed by the Transportation Security Admin. (TSA) and the U.S. Coast Guard, requires maritime workers who access secure areas of transportation facilities to obtain a biometric identification card to access these facilities. A federal regulation set a national compliance deadline of April 15, 2009. TSA is conducting a pilot program to test the use of TWICs with biometric card readers in part to inform the development of a second TWIC regulation. This report evaluated TSA's and the Coast Guard's progress and related challenges in implementing TWIC, and evaluated the management challenges, if any, that TSA and Coast Guard face in executing the TWIC pilot test. Illus.

'Triggered by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Canada, the United States and Mexico redefined their public policies to facilitate the regionalization of transactions. However, this volume addresses the institutional gaps that still remain focusing mainly on the cross-border governance of security aspects. It gathers interdisciplinary contributions of specialists working on continental issues within Canada, the United States and Mexico and highlights the transnational dimension of certain issues still managed under national-framed policies. Furthermore, it explores the possibilities and constraints for moving public policy into new cross-border governance strategies. Divided in three parts, the first part assesses what is at stake in cross-border governance issues and whether the integrative trend in the region will be maintained or stalled in the years to come. The second part explores the growing scope of security problems interconnected with borders, migration, energy and drug trafficking across the region. It highlights how Mexico and Canada are responding or adapting their policy choices to a continental security approach framed by the US after the terrorist attacks of September 11, and to the major concerns of the Obama administration. The third part focuses on the governance of territorial borders and bilateral affairs, i.e. Mexico-US and Canada-Mexico relations.

The Dept. of Homeland Security¿s (DHS) U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program stores and processes biometric and biographic info. to, among other things, control and monitor the entry and exit of foreign visitors. Currently, an entry capability is operating at almost 300 U.S. ports of entry, but an exit capability is not. It has been reported that there are limitations in DHS¿s efforts to plan and execute its efforts to deliver US-VISIT exit. Recommendations were made to improve these areas. This report determined: (1) the status of DHS¿s efforts to deliver a comprehensive exit solution; and (2) to what extent DHS is applying an integrated approach to managing its comprehensive exit solution. Illus.