Posted on 04/10/2002 5:44:47 AM PDT by csvset
Norfolk INS often granted crews improper shore leave
By TIM MCGLONE, The Virginian-Pilot
© April 10, 2002
Crews from 40 foreign cargo vessels were allowed shore leave in Hampton Roads since Dec. 1 without proper authorization, according to the commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Even after four Pakistanis from the cargo ship Progreso disappeared in mid-March, crews from two more cargo vessels were allowed improper shore leave, Commissioner James W. Ziglar said.
An INS inspector who allowed the Pakistanis ashore had no knowledge of a policy enacted in November that forbade the practice without the approval of an Arlington district supervisor, he said.
The details, provided by Ziglar in a letter to the House Judiciary Committee in its inquiry into the Pakistanis' disappearance, show that the Norfolk INS office was not complying with federal policy. His letter, dated April 3, was released Tuesday by the committee.
The disappearance of the Pakistanis touched off a nationwide hunt, angered the attorney general and led to the reassignment of the INS officer in charge of the Norfolk office.
The inspector who granted the visa waivers allowing the crew ashore told her superiors she was unaware of the regulation, handed down from Washington. It mandates that visa waiver approvals come from a district officer, Ziglar said. For ships arriving in Hampton Roads, that approval must come from the director or assistant director of the Arlington office.
``An investigation is under way to determine if any other personnel are culpable for the guidance not being followed or disseminated,'' Ziglar's letter said.
An INS spokesman said Tuesday that the investigation is continuing. He could not say whether the inspector had been disciplined.
Officials have said that William W. Bittner, who was head of the Norfolk office, failed to inform his staff of the directive. He has since been transferred to Arlington and has been unavailable for comment.
Ziglar listed the names of the 40 cargo ships that have pulled into Hampton Roads' ports since Dec. 1 in which visa waivers were granted without supervisor approval. Dozens, if not hundreds, of foreign sailors were given shore leave improperly.
Each of those crew members is believed to have returned to their ships, Ziglar said. But he offered no explanation as to how, just days after the Pakistanis jumped ship and the investigation began, crews from two ships were allowed ashore improperly on March 19 and March 21, respectively.
Since then, INS apparently has made it more difficult for foreign sailors to enjoy shore time in Hampton Roads.
Polly Glassburner, who works for the Seamen's Friends Society, said she has noticed that fewer crew members are being allowed off ships.
``I think it's a little bit more restrictive than it used to be,'' she said.
The society shuttles foreign sailors to local stores and churches and takes magazines and sundries to them when they can't leave their ships.
She said the restrictiveness also appears to vary depending on which INS inspector is working the docks.
INS officials declined to comment on local actions. A spokesman said the only edict from Washington has been to follow the new rule issued in November.
Ship jumping has continued even with greater INS scrutiny.
Four Turkish nationals jumped ship from Lambert's Point the weekend of March 30. INS was left blameless because immigration inspectors in New Jersey, where the ship first docked, refused to grant visa waivers to the crew. The four fled anyway.
Thirteen foreign sailors have jumped ship in the past month. INS has failed to locate the Turks. Three of the four Pakistanis remain missing and five Mexicans who left a tall ship are also being sought.
Ziglar, in his letter, explained that none of the Pakistanis was listed on any criminal database or on any terrorist watch list.
One, however, tried to enter the country in Chicago in September 2000, with questionable paperwork. Ghulam Qadar, also known as Thulan Qadar, told agents he was supposed to meet a ship in Detroit. INS learned that the ship was not in that city. Qadar also provided agents with the wrong phone number of a shipping agent, Ziglar said.
Qadar withdrew his application for admission and left the country.
The House Judiciary Committee, which opened hearings Tuesday on a reorganization of the INS, heard some of the details of the Pakistani ship jumpers, but nothing new emerged.
A committee spokesman said INS officials were working to answer further questions, but the spokesman declined to identify those questions.
Reach Tim McGlone at tmcglone@pilotonline.com or 446-2343.
It's odd that no one can figure out how to set up a security system at the docks that doesn't allow these people to jump ship. We could at least make them take their chances with the sharks.
Better yet, charge the officers and the owners with felony alien smuggling, including seizure and forfeiture of the instruments of the offence (i.e., the ship and cargo).
SFS's motto: "Hello, sailor."
Seriously now. Has anyone found these four guys that jumped ship? Or, are they completely blended into the background?
One was found in Texas (I never heard exactly where in Texas). The other 3 are still at large. I heard the other 3 were seen getting on buses for NY/NJ but have not been tracked down. There was also some question surrounding how long it took to notify authorities that the 4 were missing.
The INS - the 21st century keystone kops.
I'm having a real hard time with the lack on consistency in applying the rules. That this particular INS person "never heard of the directive." Was she not paying attention on 9/11? How stupid can one person be?
It seems to be, at least to me, the standard government employee attitude. It's also an attitude you see in the bureaucracy of a large corporation. "That's not my job." "No one told me to do that." "I never got a memo on that." "Sorry, I'm busy writing a report on why I did nothing this week."
It just seems worse in the government and very visibly so, in the INS.
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