-Caveat Lector- From http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=IMMIGRATION-03-25-02&cat=AN
}}}>Begin NATIONAL Needed: Reform at immigration agency By BILL STRAUB Scripps Howard News Service March 25, 2002 WASHINGTON - Rep. Tom Tancredo has become so disgusted with the beleaguered Immigration and Naturalization Service over the years that he has compiled a report he calls "unbelievable but true immigration stories.'' The document contains 55 instances of what the Colorado Republican considers INS malfeasance, ranging from the well-known - Mohammed Atta of Sept. 11 infamy was permitted to return to the United States early last year despite holding an invalid visa - to the more esoteric - the town of San Luis, Ariz., lists about 3,000 residents but 20,000 post office boxes because those living across the border in Mexico use them as a permanent American address to collect public benefits. "Almost every single day I am confronted by another horror story that makes this one pale in comparison in terms of the corruption inside the INS, in terms of the culture that exists inside that agency,'' Tancredo said. "We have essentially allowed the INS to do what they do, to abandon their responsibility, to thwart the law.'' Tancredo is far from alone in his view of the INS, which is responsible for governing the entry of aliens into the United States and for keeping out those who don't belong. In Washington, a city where people are rarely in general agreement on anything, almost everyone, be they Democrat or Republican, acknowledges the INS is a troubled ship. That includes President Bush, who is formulating a plan to overhaul the agency, looking at a package that would separate the service's enforcement duties from administrative matters, such as dealing with new citizenships. "We've got to reform the INS and we've got to push hard to do so,'' he said. Several measures already have been introduced, including one from Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which splits the agency as proposed by Bush. "I have believed for some time now that the INS is the most dysfunctional agency in the federal government,'' Sensenbrenner said. The INS has, since Sept. 11, become a sore spot in the nation's war on terrorism. Critics, like Dan Stein, director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, argue that the inability to maintain the integrity of U.S. borders presents a clear and present danger. "We have a national security imperative to know who is in our country and we certainly have the right to expect that our identity documents will be secure enough to prevent their fraudulent use by people who want to get jobs in airports and other places where the lives and safety of countless people can be threatened,'' Stein said. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that legal immigration, the number of foreigners granted permanent residency, fluctuates between 700,000 and 800,000 each year. The problem, critics maintain, is the number of illegal aliens settling here. That number is placed at 420,000 annually. Tancredo and others cite estimates that the number of illegal residents in the United States has reached 4 million. Most of those in the country illegally come from Latin America. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that Mexicans make up 58 percent of the undocumented population. About 115,000 people from Middle Eastern counties are living in the United States illegally. The flood of aliens illegally crossing the borders into the United States isn't the only problem. The INS presently is incapable of locating most foreign nationals who entered the country legally but who violated their visas and remained in the United States long after their permits expired. On Oct. 3, 2001, Damir Igric, a Croatian, slashed the throat of a Greyhound bus driver, leading to the deaths of seven, including the assailant. The driver survived. Igric entered the United States on a 30- day visa on March 9, 1999, meaning his permit to remain in the country had expired more than two years before the incident. The INS had no way to track him down. James Ziglar, who became INS commissioner seven months ago, is among those who feel the agency is in drastic need of reform. He said antiquated technology systems and overly bureaucratic processes have wreaked havoc. Plans are under way, he said, to implement an entry-exit system that will permit the INS to keep better tabs on those arriving and leaving. Border checks have increased with the assistance of 800 National Guard personnel, and a system still mired in paper is being converted to computers. "The INS and the Department of Justice have moved forward on numerous important initiatives to enhance our nation's security and we will continue to make improvements to enhance both our law-enforcement and service operations,'' Ziglar said. But Michael Cutler, a special agent for the INS district office in New York, countered that his agency "has many serious problems which can no longer be ignored.'' "We are in a state of war and if we are to safeguard our nation we first need to secure our borders and our ability to enforce those laws which govern the entry of aliens into the United States, as well as their continued presence in our country,'' Cutler said. "These problems cannot be solved easily but they must be solved effectively. Our nation's very survival is at stake.'' Cutler said the apprehension of illegal aliens in the United States is the sole responsibility of INS special agents. Currently, there are fewer than 2,000 such agents nationwide. In New York, a major point of entry, 100 special agents cover the southern half of the state, including New York City. "We need to have many more special agents,'' he said. "We also need to have an agency that functions effectively.'' 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