Re‐Engineering the Immigration System: A Case for Data Mining and Information Assurance to Enhance Homeland Security: Part I: Identifying the Current Problems

Abstract

The most significant improvement in homeland security can be achieved by reducing the threat at its source through a fundamental review of the process by which foreign nationals are admitted to and managed while in this country. All 19 hijackers involved in the attacks on 9/11/01 entered this country legally, and unknown numbers of similar enemy combatants have or can do the same. No information was identified in the visa process to link the hijackers to international terrorism, nor was there any information – raw, validated or assessed – to establish that their entry into the United States would be consistent with our security interests. This dual deficit suggests two critical failings. The first – failing to detect their terrorist backgrounds – might be explained in part by the secret and shadowy world of terrorism, the ease by which new identity documents can be procured abroad and the realities of the intelligence business: watch lists will never contain the names of all terrorists. But the second failing – not requiring positive information – is impossible to justify. Why should the visa process not require the existence of positive information that establishes the identity of the applicant by virtue of a validated history? Why would we not resort to the abundance of extant information that is compiled daily on individuals in our global economy in this information age? In short, why should the process for the issuance of a visa be so much less rigorous than for a VISA cr…