ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Espionage, Intelligence, and Security Volume ...

Entry-Exit Registration System, United States National SecurityEntry-Exit RegistrationSystem, United StatesNational SecurityThe U.S. National Security Entry-Exit Registration System(NEERS) is a program whereby persons whose nationalityidentifies them as a possible security risk are required tosubmit to control processes governed by the U.S. Departmentof Justice. Established in June, 2002, the system is aresponse to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks andthe increased awareness of terrorism and homeland securitythat emerged in their wake. Despite these concerns,some critics have charged that NEERS is unconstitutional.On June 5, 2002, the Justice Department introducedthe new system that focused on citizens of Iran, Iraq,Libya, Sudan, and Syria. In addition, “certain nationals ofother countries whom the State Department and the INS[Immigration and Naturalization Service] determine to bean elevated national security risk” would be placed underthe program, which required these individuals to undergofingerprinting, photographing, and registration. Exit controlsbuilt into the system would make it easier for lawenforcementofficials to monitor foreign nationals as tothe length of their visas, and to ensure the removal ofthose who had overstayed theirs.In the first year, NEERS would track some 100,000foreigners, but over time it would be expanded to includethe more than 35 million who visit the United States everyyear. Though the program’s original regulations madelittle reference to gender, it was clear that males from teenage to middle age were the focus. By early 2003, this hadbeen spelled out in regulations that cited males 16 andover from some 25 countries.Almost immediately, the program invoked the ire ofgroups representing civil liberties interests, foreigners, orother constituencies. In December, 2002, the FinancialTimes reported that some 700 men and boys in southernCalifornia had been detained for several days on suspicionof criminal activity. Such actions, the British paper warned,could deter foreign nationals from registering with theprogram.This was one legitimate concern with the programthat law-abiding foreigners would register, while those forwhom NEERS was created would manage to avoid thesystem. Some workers fled to other countries, as theWashington Post showed in a report on Pakistanis makingtheir way north to Canada—only to be met with an unfriendlyreception there. As for the claim that the programunfairly singled out Middle Easterners or Muslims, defendersof NEERS pointed out at least three-quarters of theterrorist attacks worldwide over the past quarter-century—including the most violent attack in September, 2001, hadbeen perpetrated by males from the Islamic world.❚ FURTHER READING:PERIODICALS:Brown, DeNeen L. “Pakistanis Find Cool Reception inCanada.” Washington Post. (March 19, 2003): A24.Lardner, George, Jr. “Congress Funds INS RegistrationSystem but Demands Details.” Washington Post. (February15, 2003): A18.Parkes, Christopher. “Anti-Terror Programme in U.S. Runsinto Controversy.” Financial Times. (December 20,2002): 8.ELECTRONIC:Attorney General Prepared Remarks on the National SecurityEntry-Exit Registration System. U.S. Departmentof Justice. (March 24, 2003).Fact Sheet: National Security Entry-Exit Registration System.U.S. Department of State International InformationPrograms. (March 24, 2003).National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NEERS). (March 24, 2003).SEE ALSOINS (United States Immigration and Naturalization Service)ProfilingSeptember 11 Terrorist Attacks on the United StatesEnvironmental Issues Impacton Security❚ WILLIAM C. HANEBERGThe relationship between environmental issues and nationalsecurity includes the possibility of conflict overscarce resources such as fresh water and arable land, theinfluence of global climate changes on the types andlocations of future conflicts, and the degree to which theenvironmental consequences of domestic military andsecurity activities should be open to public scrutiny.Although there is no standardized definition, aspects ofnational security that are driven by or that address environmentalissues can be collectively described by the termenvironmental security. Because environmental securityissues are tied as closely to public policy, politics, andeconomics as they are to science and engineering, discussionsof either are often contentious and highly polarized.Increasing concerns about environmental quality anddegradation during the past several decades have led tothe incorporation of environmental elements into nationalsecurity policy. Some policy scenarios, for example, discussthe possibility of United States troops invading SouthAmerican countries to enforce bans against logging inrainforests or to quell violence arising from competition408 Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security