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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 immi
gration 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.
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MORE HEADLINES
Tests on hijack suspects' cars show no anthrax
Coast Guard calls off search for man missing from capsized boat
Copyright © 2001, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
End<{{{
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