Fix lapses in visa tracking

The federal government could take a page from corporate America as it struggles to track people who enter the United States legally but overstay their visas. The Department of Homeland Security figures the number of overstays in America is about 2.3 million, although the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, says the number could be substantially higher.

Inventory control measures that companies use to track supplies of goods or that package-delivery services use to trace parcels across the globe have become commonplace in private industry. Seemingly, visas could be similarly devised to track people who overstay their visits and should leave the country. Or, such methods could be used to assist them in legally extending their stay should the need exist.

When people apply for work, they should be required to produce documentation that can be readily verified, such as visas and work permits. Employers who hire people without proper documentation should face strict sanctions, and people who allow their documents to lapse should expect to be deported.

When one considers that many of the terrorists who took part in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America had expired visas, it is difficult to understand why the Department of Homeland Security has not made this issue a higher priority.

When private-sector employers hire people who have lapsed visas, that is problematic. But when government agencies, particularly those under the control of the federal government, hire them, that's inexcusable. According to the GAO, some 5,000 illegal aliens lied to obtain jobs in sensitive areas such as airport tarmacs, military installations and nuclear power plants. Some of the illegal hires were involved in passenger screening or had other jobs that gave them access to secure areas of airports.

Enforcement sweeps revealed some 5,000 illegal hires, and yet the federal government was able to arrest only about one-fifth of the offenders.

Homeland security demands that the United States develop a workable system to track people who have visas and work permits to help ensure they do not overstay their visits and to protect them from exploitation.

When technology enables package-delivery companies to track parcels across the globe, it boggles the mind that the Department of Homeland Security cannot devise a secure system to track the comings and goings of people admitted into the United States for work, study or tourism.