WASHINGTON, June 13 (UPI) -- The head of one of the Department of Homeland Security's few success stories, the US-VISIT program for tracking foreign visitors, is moving on.
Jim Williams, currently program director of the $1.1 billion United States-Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology project, will be leaving June 23 to join the General Services Administration as commissioner of the new Federal Acquisition Service, the GSA announced last week.
Anna Hinken, spokeswoman for the US-VISIT program office said there was no information available about who might succeed him.
US-VISIT is a multi-agency program using biometric technology to keep track of foreigners applying for visas or using them to visit the United States -- and of the millions of people entering the country every year under the visa waiver program.
Despite concerns that the system's introduction at air and sea ports would lead to delays and alienate potential tourists, the roll-out has not hampered the gradual recovery in the number of visitors to the United States since the dramatic nosedive it took in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
But some observers say that US-VISIT's greatest challenge -- the introduction of biometric checks for people leaving the country -- still lies ahead.
