Auditors fault visa waiver decisions

[maddezmom]

By SUZANNE GAMBOA Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Homeland Security Department used outdated information when it decided to continue letting visitors from 27 countries enter the U.S. without visas, congressional investigators said in a report Tuesday.

After reviews in 2004, the department decided the visa waiver program should continue for all 27 countries participating in it.

The reviews, however, did not always contain timely information on the latest risks posed by the participating countries, the Government Accountability Office, Congress' investigative arm, said Tuesday.

The investigators said the assessments were done from May to September 2004, and a final report was sent to Congress more than a year later, in November 2005.

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