Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff at announcement of joint vision to enhance border security while streamlining security processes and facilitating travel for visitors to the United States.

Washington – Two top U.S. officials January 17 presented a broad strategy for ensuring security at the nation’s borders and at the same time welcoming travelers, students and businesspeople into the United States.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff brought together an audience of business people, educators and other interested parties to explain a three-part strategy designed to maintain the right balance between strong security and smooth travel.

“We seek to use new information technology to renew America’s welcome,” said Rice, “making it as easy as possible for foreign visitors to the United States and to do so securely and safely.” (See related fact sheet.)

Creating more sophisticated travel documents and conducting smarter border screening are two other major elements of the plan announced at U.S. State Department headquarters in Washington.

Since the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001 focused new scrutiny on U.S. border security procedures, the State Department has made significant strides in eliminating obsolete visa systems, improving procedures and processing times. Foreign citizens’ waiting times for visas have been reduced from months to days in many cases, but Rice called those efforts only a beginning.

The two agencies are working to develop the “model airport,” to institute new procedures for smoothly ushering foreign visitors into the country. Two pilot efforts will begin this year in Houston, Texas, and at Dulles airport outside Washington, D.C.

Foreign travelers take their first steps toward the United States with the visa application process in their own countries, and Rice said strides are being taken to facilitate that process as well. This year an experiment will begin for State Department consular officers to conduct required interviews with visa applicants using digital video conferencing technology to save the applicant a trip to the consulate or embassy.

“If we can do this successfully,” Rice said, “this process might make life dramatically easier for foreign citizens who must travel great distances to be interviewed in person.”

The State Department will further use technology to expedite the visa application process by introducing an online process for business travelers to file visa applications and make appointments for interviews.

Data sharing among the various U.S. government agencies that bear responsibility for movement of visitors at the borders has been an acknowledged problem that has slowed and complicated the process. The Rice-Chertoff plan aspires to eliminate that technical barrier with creation of what the Department of Homeland Security secretary described as a unified architecture of information.

The new system will require the applicant to supply information to U.S. agencies only once, while allowing border officials access to electronic files on travelers coming into the United States.

“We will have the opportunity to transform our border management,” said Chertoff, “decreasing wait times at points of entry, and allowing us to focus our resources on that minority of people who pose a threat.”

The United States will also transition to an e-passport by 2007, a travel document carrying a computer chip, which will bear biometric and biographic information on the bearer. Officials say this document will strengthen security for the entire international traveling public by ensuring the document is authentic and that the person carrying the passport is the actual person to whom it was issued.

For additional information, see Visas and Passports.

Charlene Porter
Washington File Staff Writer

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