GAO unhappy with progress DHS is making in its US-VISIT exit project

DHS has put in place a biometric and biographic information system at hundreds of U.S. ports of entry that captures data on foreign nations who enter the U.S., but it has not yet deployed a similar system that can capture biographical data about foreign nationals when they exit the U.S. through almost 300 ports of entry, and the GAO does not seem overly impressed with the progress DHS has been making to establish such an exit capability.

In a recently-released report, the Government Accountability Office credited DHS for adopting an "integrated approach" to involving stakeholders in what it calls its Comprehensive Exit project. "However, [DHS] has not adopted an integrated approach to scheduling, executing, and tracking the work that needs to be accomplished to deliver a comprehensive exit solution," said the GAO's analysis.

DHS has divided the overall project into six distinct components. When the GAO assessed whether two of those components were adhering to nine "key schedule estimating practices," it determined that neither component was fully complying. "In contrast, the prime contractor's schedule is largely reliable," the GAO found, "as it fully or substantially meets all nine practices."

Consequently, the GAO added a new recommendation to the pile of earlier recommendations it has made to DHS regarding this US-VISIT exit capability. DHS should develop and adhere to an integrated master schedule for the department's Comprehensive Exit project, concluded the GAO.