Despite some improvement, the Justice, State, and Homeland Security departments are at an impasse over such basic issues as whether two or 10 fingers should be printed at US borders and which law enforcement agencies should have access to immigration information.
''Progress toward the longer-term goal of making all biometric fingerprint systems fully interoperable has stalled," Fine's report concluded.
Without an integrated system, the review found that watch lists used to check certain visitors at the borders contain only a small portion of the 47 million records in FBI fingerprint files, and that these incomplete lists are prone to error.
Currently only about 1 percent of an estimated 118,000 daily US visitors whose fingerprints should be checked are actually run through the FBI files, ''the most complete and current law enforcement database," Fine said.
''The likelihood of missing a criminal alien or terrorist is increased" without expanded use of the FBI files, Fine said.
Since the 2001 attacks, Congress has repeatedly pushed the agencies to devise a single, quick fingerprint identification system that could be used by all law enforcement agencies as well as immigration and intelligence officials. The agencies' inability to reach common ground runs counter to the repeated pledges of cooperation that followed the Sept. 11 attacks.
The agencies ''have different sets of mission objectives, and each one has been a forceful advocate for its respective position," said Justice Department top administrative official Paul Corts.
One key unresolved question is how many fingers should be printed and how. The Justice Department sides with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which has recommended taking 10 ''flat" fingerprints along with a digital photograph of the individual. These ''flat" prints, the institute says, are almost as accurate as the ''rolled" fingerprints favored by the FBI and should take only 10 to 15 seconds longer than taking just two fingerprints.
