DHS, State Department wage visa war.

The Department of Homeland Security's effort to place trained officers in embassies and other State Department posts has led to a falling out between the two agencies, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office.

As part of a larger security program, DHS is determined to place visa security officers, or VSOs, inside embassies and consulates overseas. Currently, the only facilities with these staffers are in Saudi Arabia.

DHS officials said they want the visa-security officers because they can delve more deeply into the background of subjects than the State Department's consular officers.

"VSOs have access to and experience using immigration and law enforcement databases that are not readily available to consular officers, who are not classified as criminal justice or law enforcement personnel," GAO said. "As law-enforcement agents, the visa security officers can access detailed criminal history records and immigration information" not available to embassy staff, who must route all such requests through Washington, D.C.

DHS planned to expand its visa security program to five locations in fiscal year 2005, with further increases to come. However, chiefs of mission at those posts delayed approval, said the GAO report. "Embassy and State officials attributed the delays to questions about the program's goals, objectives and staffing requirements, as well as DHS's plans to coordinate with existing law-enforcement and border-security staff and programs at post," the report noted.

Other problems were reported when staff at embassy posts wondered why their sites had been selected to receive the additional security agents, or asserted too many agents had overly broad mandates.

Embassy officials also questioned the reasoning behind the number of VSOs that DHS wanted to assign. In 2004, the department requested 21 VSO positions for five posts. A year later, only four posts had approved just 13 of the positions.

The Homeland Security Act of 2002, which established DHS, gave it responsibility for visa policy, and authorized DHS immediately to assign personnel to Saudi Arabia to review all visa applications before final adjudication. In 2003, DHS created the office of international enforcement within the border and transportation security directorate to oversee this work.

Four DHS officers were deployed to Saudi Arabia to kick start the program. The quartet was on temporary assignment, the report noted, which hindered the program's ability to maintain focus and smooth relations with embassy officials.

There also have been questions about the wisdom of checking every applicant. The GAO report also recommended that Congress amend the Homeland Security Act to allow VSOs the "flexibility" to prioritize their reviews, focusing on those who may pose a risk.

In short, the effort in Saudi Arabia unmasked an overall effort that was suffering from a lack of preparation, said the GAO report.

"DHS has not developed a strategic plan for visa security operations in Saudi Arabia or the future expansion posts," GAO said. "The development of a plan may address questions from chiefs of mission and prevent delays in approving the assignment of VSOs during future expansion of the visa security program."