January 2006
The Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program has helped prevent “criminal aliens from entering the country”, but is not yet integrated with other border security measures and lacks an effective exit tracking system, according to a senior official at the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Testifying before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security yesterday, Randy Hite, Director of Information Technology Architecture and Systems Issues at GAO, noted that while the US-VISIT program has met several demanding legislatively mandates, other key elements of the tracking system need improvement.
The Alliance is pleased to welcome Maria del Pilar (May) Gahan, an Argentinian student here on a summer work/travel program. May has joined our staff to assist with preparations for Advocacy Day on March 8-9, 2006.
I attended the U.S. University Presidents Summit on International Education, cosponsored by the Departments of State and Education on Jan 5-6. Approximately 125 presidents attended from all types of institutions. The high level participation from the executive branch was striking. In addition to President Bush’s January 5 appearance to announce the Strategic Language Initiative, participants included Secretaries Rice and Spellings, Under Secretary Hughes, Assistant Secretaries Harty and Powell, Under Secretary of Commerce Frank Lavin, and an unannounced appearance by the First Lady.
