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| DHS Plans 2010: Capture 1 in 4 Travelers Committing 'Major' Criminal Violations While Entering U.S. on International Fights |
| 2010-01-04 |
| Documents produced by the Department of Homeland Security indicate that in fiscal 2010 the department is planning to catch only 26 percent of travelers committing major criminal violations while seeking to enter the United States through international airports. DHS documents also indicate that the department believes it will fail to screen against law enforcement databases 15 percent of travelers entering the United States in 2010 through all official ports of entry. In fiscal 2008, according to DHS, the department caught only 25 percent of those committing "major violations" while entering the U.S. on international flights. It also planned to catch only 25% in fiscal 2009, which ended on Sept. 30. For fiscal 2010, which began on Oct. 1, DHS set it sites slightly higher, planning to catch 26 percent of "major" violators entering the U.S. on international flights while letting 74 percent get away. DHS each year calculates what it calls the "air passenger apprehension rate for major violations." This apprehension rate is used as one measure of whether the department is achieving its goal to "improve the targeting, screening, and apprehension of high-risk international cargo and travelers to prevent terrorist attacks, while providing processes to facilitate the flow of safe and legitimate trade and travel." The "major violations" that DHS believes 74 percent of perpetrators will get away with when entering the U.S. by air in 2010, according to a 3,493-page document the department presented to Congress to justify its annual budget, involve "serious criminal activity, including possession of narcotics, smuggling of prohibited products, human smuggling, weapons possession, fraudulent U.S. documents, and other offenses serious enough to result in arrest." DHS determines the percentage of "major" violators it catches entering the United States at international airports by subjecting a random sampling of passengers to intensified scrutiny designed to detect any offense they might be committing. "The sample rate is used to estimate the 'expected' number of major violations in the general population," DHS explained in its budget justification. "The major violations found during the regular primary inspection process are then compared to the 'expected' number to compute the apprehension rate for major violations among air passengers traveling to the U.S." The justification for its 2010 budget that DHS presented to Congress said the department had apprehended 40.3 percent of those committing "major violations" entering the United States on international flights in fiscal 2007, but that the number dropped to only 25 percent in fiscal 2008. For fiscal 2009, the document said, the department set a goal of apprehending 25 percent again, and then raised the goal to 26 percent for fiscal 2010. An annual performance review updated by DHS in May also said the department caught only 25% of those committing "major violations" while entering the U.S. by air in fiscal 2008 and that the department had set goals of apprehending 25 percent of such violators in 2009 and 26 percent in 2010. A statement provided to CNSNews.com on September 11, 2009 by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the DHS agency responsible for screening international travelers entering the United States, said "the vast majority of passenger violations that fall into the 'major violations' category are narcotics violations." Another measure that DHS uses to determine whether it is achieving its goal of preventing terrorist attacks is called the "percent of individuals screened against law enforcement databases for entry into the United States." The 3,493-page report DHS provided to Congress to justify its 2010 budget said, "This measure identifies the percent of individuals arriving at the ports of entry who have their names and other identification information checked against electronic law enforcement databases." According to the document, the department screened only 73.5% of international travelers arriving at all U.S. ports of entry in 2008, and set goals of screening 80 percent in fiscal 2009 and 85 percent in fiscal 2010. More at site |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #5 Maybe the Knicker Bomber was ignored because DHS had already caught their 25% for the year. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2010-01-04 22:14 |
| #4 Perhaps we should screen all passengers thoroughly and with great discrimination, except those that want to take the one plane each day that is the No-screen, No-search, No-Xray, No-pat-down flight for ACLU members, radicals, easily offended liberals, badly behaving Arabs, transgenders, or pedophiles (if there is any difference in the groups). Save a seat in first class for any Congressman that wants to put his backside where his mouth is on discrimination. |
| Posted by: whatadeal 2010-01-04 16:13 |
| #3 The "major violations" that DHS believes 74 percent of perpetrators will get away with when entering the U.S. by air in 2010, according to a 3,493-page document the department presented to Congress to justify its annual budget Thought these guys were all about saving trees? Are these criminals or terrorists? I wonder what major criminal violations are? 74% getting in don't give me warm fuzzy feelings about flying. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-01-04 14:46 |
| #2 "The system worked." -- Janet Napolitano |
| Posted by: Steve White 2010-01-04 12:52 |
| #1 Set the bar low enough and "success" is guaranteed. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-01-04 12:26 |