Paul Rosenzweig wonders why Congress continues to focus on biometric exit scans to identify immigrants who overstay their visas. If the current version of the immigration bill passes, “foreigners leaving from the 30 busiest airports in America would be required to undergo outbound fingerprinting”:
[E]ven if it were to work it wouldn’t be worth it. Right now, with our [current] exit system in place, the rate of verified overstays outstrips our capacity to search out those who remain in the US and deport them. As Secretary Napolitano put it in 2013 testimony, DHS “vet[s] all overstays for national security concerns, [and] also leverage[s] existing capabilities to close out overstay leads. We now vet all potential overstays and refer leads to ICE based on national security and public safety priorities for further review.” In other words, we don’t have the resources right now to track everyone who overstays – so what would be the value of an even more comprehensive list.
The Dish 