-Caveat Lector- [ I urge you to forward this Post to all of the elected criminal Thugs in Congress! ]
Strapped INS unable to track down 250,000 living in U.S. illegally By Jody A. Benjamin Staff Writer Posted October 29 2001 Here's one to add to the growing list of revelations about immigration since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks: an overtaxed, underfunded immigration investigations unit. While the Immigration and Naturalization Service increased deportations of foreign-born criminals in recent years, it says it has been unable to deport 300,000 others it says should go -- 250,000 among them have vanished into American society. And INS resources to track down this missing population -- who run the gamut from students who overstayed their visas to green card holders with felony records -- have not kept pace with the skyrocketing growth of undocumented immigrants living in the country, now about 8 million people nationwide. Groups favoring tighter controls on immigration see INS' inability to find those it has ordered deported as a gaping loophole that must be slammed shut if the country is to regain control of its borders or to fight terrorism effectively. Others say that while it is clear INS needs more resources to do its job, increased spending to track down visa overstays and ineligible asylum-seekers is not likely to cough up terrorists. Rather than cast a general dragnet, they argue a smarter approach would be to improve intelligence about specific threats. "It's like suggesting that we can reduce the murder rate by jailing everyone who commits a traffic violation," said Ben Johnson of the American Immigration Lawyers Association in Washington, D.C. "We have to keep our eye on the ball here." None of the 19 suspected hijackers from the Sept. 11 attack had been ordered deported by an immigration judge, according to the INS. But the agency thinks as many as six might have entered the country illegally and, had they been encountered by INS, could have been deported. The bulk of the vanished population consists of those who overstayed a business, tourist or student visa and those who entered illegally by land or sea, said INS spokeswoman Karen Kraushaar. "We cannot find them. That's why we can't remove them," Kraushaar said. "We're trying to track a population that is fundamentally trying to evade us." Of the remaining 50,000 whom the INS has been unable to deport, about 20,000 are state prisoners that the INS plans to deport once their sentences have been served. Another 30,000 are in INS custody -- including illegal workers picked up during INS raids and asylum-seekers whose cases have been denied. INS may be having trouble finding this population because the agency typically uses the mail to notify applicants they should leave, said Steven Camarota, a researcher with the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C. "We call them run letters," Camarota said. "Rather than call people in to tell them of their decision, INS gives them advance notice." Advocates counter that many on the INS's missing list have no idea they have been ordered deported. Because the process can stretch out over months or even years, many applicants change addresses before hearing back from INS. Many have strong cases for appealing their deportation orders and are ultimately allowed to stay, advocates say. "Everything we know about these terrorists [from Sept. 11] shows that they were not immigrants," Johnson said. "They were visitors intent on wrongdoing. What we're seeing now is opportunism by people who want to shut immigration down." Either way, resources to track down this population are scarce, according to INS statistics. There are 2, 000 investigators nationwide charged with tracking down foreigners who have been ordered deported -- about one agent for every 150 cases. And with INS putting higher priorities on chasing alien smugglers and drug felons, the bulk of cases where people can't be found have not gotten a lot of attention. Since Sept. 11, about half of all INS investigators have been assigned to track the terrorists. Jody A. Benjamin can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 954-356- 4530. http://sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-cvanish29oct29.story?coll= sfla%2Dnews%2Dsfla AB TO KEEP THE PEACE, KEEP YOUR PIECE! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
