DHS needs to improve the planning and execution of its Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program that it uses to collect maintain, and share information on non-citizens entering and leaving the country, GAO has said.
Congress requires the department to develop and submit an expenditure plan for the program that satisfies certain conditions. GAO said the fiscal 2008 plan does not fully satisfy any of the 11 conditions required of DHS by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008.
It said the plan either does not address key aspects of the conditions or because what it does address is not adequately supported or is otherwise not reflective of known program weaknesses.
Additional management improvements are needed to effectively define, justify, and deliver a US-VISIT system solution that meets program goals, reflects stakeholder input, minimizes exposure to risk, and provides Congress with the means by which to oversee program execution, according to GAO-09-96.
It said that even though the plan provides an accounting of operations and maintenance and program management costs, the plan does not separately identify the program’s contractor services costs, as required by the act.
The plan lacks certification by the DHS Chief Human Capital Officer that the program’s human capital needs are being strategically and proactively managed and that the program has sufficient human capital capacity to execute the expenditure plan, said GAO.
Also missing is a detailed schedule for implementing an exit capability or a certification that a biometric exit capability is not possible within five years.
