Report: Visitor-tracking program needs better management

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The Homeland Security Department needs to more effectively manage its program for tracking visitors to the United States, according to a new General Accounting Office report.

The department "has not employed rigorous, disciplined management controls typically associated with successful programs," GAO said of the so-called US-VISIT program in its report (GAO-04-586).

The agency acknowledged that Homeland Security "largely met its commitments" for the program's initial operating phase but said its plans for future operations "are based on questionable assumptions, making future resource needs uncertain."

The department must establish a more effective management program and assess the full impact US-VISIT deployment will have on land port-of-entry workforce levels and facilities, GAO said.

If US-VISIT is not managed well, auditors concluded, plans for independent controls and validation "may not prove effective."

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