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Posted on 06/26/2002 9:53:54 AM PDT by RCW2001
Don't Break Up INS, Ridge Says
Wed Jun 26,11:26 AM ET
By JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Congress should not split up the Immigration and Naturalization Service when including the embattled agency in a new Homeland Security Department, the Bush administration said Wednesday.
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The House in April voted to break up the INS into separate agencies dealing with border enforcement and new citizenship. That vote came before the White House effort to move the entire agency into the proposed Cabinet-level department.
Some lawmakers said it sends the wrong message to combine the job of processing legitimate immigrant visas with that of border control in the new department.
Ridge also expressed confidence in changes at the FBI ( news - web sites) and CIA ( news - web sites), investigative agencies that are to remain independent from the new department despite criticism they failed to provide any warning before the Sept. 11 attacks.
"It is essential that reforms in the FBI and the CIA must continue," said Sen. Orrin Hatch ( news, bio, voting record) of Utah, the committee's top Republican.
Ridge cited steps by the FBI and CIA since Sept. 11, such as better sharing of intelligence information, as evidence they were moving the right direction. He was responding to a question from the committee chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy ( news, bio, voting record), D-Vt., if a new terrorism investigative agency were needed.
Ridge said he thought FBI Director Robert Mueller was "making very aggressive and very positive steps."
The administration wants to combine 100 federal entities with 170,000 employees and total annual budgets of at least $37 billion into one department — all without spending any extra government money. President Bush ( news - web sites) does not plan to ask for any money for the new department until the 2004 budget year, which many lawmakers say is not realistic.
Agreeing with them was Comptroller General David Walker, head of the General Accounting Office ( news - web sites), the investigate arm of Congress.
Despite possible savings in the long term, he told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee Tuesday, "there will be certain transition costs in the near term associated with setting up the new agency."
Walker also said it will take time to create the department. The White House is encouraging swift passage of legislation setting up the department, and lawmakers are rushing to pass initial versions of the plan by the end of July. But complaints about specific pieces have arisen.
"The magnitude of the challenges that the new department faces will clearly require substantial time and effort, and will take extra resources to make it fully effective," Walker said.
Some lawmakers, health advisers and GAO experts questioned whether public health dangers such as a virulent outbreak of influenza could take a back seat to bioterrorism threats under in the new department.
"It may seriously affect our ability to respond to serious threats to the health of the American people," Rep. Henry Waxman ( news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., said Tuesday at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce oversight subcommittee.
The department will include the Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness, the Strategic National Stockpile — which includes packages of pharmaceuticals, antidotes and medical supplies that can be rushed anywhere in the United States within 12 hours — and several programs within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( news - web sites) intended to enhance local public health capabilities.
"Although HHS programs are important for homeland security, they are just as important to the day-to-day needs of public health agencies and hospitals, such as reporting on disease outbreaks," said Janet Heinrich, GAO director of public health issues.
When failed federal bureaucracies like the INS, FBI and BATF are beyond redemption and hopelessly corrupt, they all get more funding and those reponsible get promoted and fat raises.
What's wrong with this picture?
One of Ridge's top priorities was to make sure border security didn't interfere with NAFTA shipping.
What makes you think he has any concern about illegal immigrants so long as they simply undercut the wages of mere citizens?
Dead bang on! That NAFTA shipping has to come through easier than wwe make our own products. Like via the "smart borders" plan to speed through products from "safe, background checked" companies in Mexico (Ha ha!) The stripmining of the American Middle Class carries on...
He is absolutely correct.
The Senate plan is crap and the House plan is almost identical to Ziglar’s plan, but Ziglar’s plan is better. Ziglar’s plan follows the Barbara Jordan report more closely than the House plan.
The plan that Ziglar proposed in November and has started to implement, is a very good plan and will improve and streamline the INS.
While Ziglar should not be in charge of any border enforcement because of his open borders views, he is a very good manager and has done a good job at cutting deadwood and reorganizing the INS.
This is all by design I'm afraid. If actions speak louder than words, the Bush Administration obviously does NOT want an effective INS. Appointing an open borders libertarian like Zieglar, a guy who admits that he has a "philosophical conflict" with enforcing our immigration laws, to run the INS speaks for itself. It’s like a Bank knowingly hiring a Bank Robber to run the Bank's Security. Has anyone ever asked Bush why he did this?
Under the "Featured Articles" column on the left, page down to the article titled "It's the Fraud, Stupid".
Advocates a single agency sans the EOIR with good communication between enforcement and "services".
Isn't the critical visa approval process incredibly still left in the hapless State Dept?
No, sometimes they let efficient Saudi travel agents handle it for them.
Under the INS plan, there would become two branches of the INS, under one commissioner. The Service branch and the Enforcement branch. That is all the separation you need.
Currently, the service branch runs all the law enforcement except the Border Patrol.
Thanks for Deport Aliens.com link. While there I drifted over to the FAIR site and noticed they had a batch of new FAXs ready to go.
Finally.. something we agree on.
Amazing, isn't it?
Ya know, I used to be a cop.. but I had to quit because I didn't want people to go to jail.
Then I was a fisherman, but I don't like to hurt fish..
After that I was a construction worker, but I hate to build things..
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