Author:
Publication: CNN News
Date: November 27, 2002
URL: http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/11/26/visas.terrorists.ap/index.html
Visas were issued to 105 non-American
men who should have been prevented from entering the United States because
their names appeared on government lists of suspected terrorists, congressional
investigators have found.
The visas have been revoked by the
State Department. A federal law enforcement official, speaking Tuesday
on condition of anonymity, said the revocation prevented 100 of the men
from entering the United States, while three others were turned away at
the U.S. border. Two made it into the country but have since left without
incident, the official said.
Officially, the Justice Department
said it was reviewing the matter "to verify the status of each of the visas
in question."
Under a security system first created
in November 2001 called "Visas Condor," State Department applications for
visas to enter the United States from certain national groups were to be
checked against possible terrorist names in FBI and CIA databases. Men
in these groups between 16 and 45 had to wait up to 30 days for the check
before a visa could be issued.
However, the GAO found, until recently
the name check system did not work properly as responsibility shifted between
the Justice Department and FBI, the CIA, the State Department and the multi-agency
Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force formed by President Bush in October
2001.
Few names initially forwarded by
the State Department , known as "cables," were checked by either the CIA
or FBI, congressional investigators said.
By April 2002, when the terror task
force assumed control of the system, the FBI had a backlog of some 8,000
unchecked names from the State Department. Of the 38,000 "Condor" applications
subsequently processed through August 1, 2002, about 280 names turned up
on the anti-terrorism lists.
The State Department was given a
refusal recommendation for 200 visa applicants, but that came after the
30-day hold had expired -- meaning the visas had already been issued. Because
of misspelled or duplicate names, GAO officials now believe these visas
were actually issued to about 105 men whose names appear on the anti- terror
lists.
In many cases, U.S. officials say
the refusal recommendation was made simply because there wasn't enough
information available about the applicant. But it remains possible that
some of the men had real terrorist connections.
Much of the information about the
situation was made public last month in a GAO report addressing broader
visa questions, but it was largely overlooked. The Chicago Tribune reported
on the matter in Tuesday's editions.
Justice Department officials had
no immediate comment Tuesday, but in a response to the GAO report a senior
official said the FBI and the terror task force have taken steps to eliminate
the backlog of names and work more closely with the State Department on
streamlining the process.
Under another change made in September,
the FBI has initial authority to check the names, then forwards those with
a possible match to the State Department -- which then has the CIA do another
screening for terrorist connections.
"We are confident that our handling
of Condor cables will remain responsive and timely, without sacrificing
security," wrote Robert Diegelman, acting assistant attorney general for
administration.
State Department officials hope
to reduce review time for the Condor applications for those with no FBI
records to 10 days or less.
