INS Visa Idiocy Angers Bush

NewsMax.com ^ | 3/13/02 | Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff

[kattracks]

You might have thought the Immigration and Naturalization "Service" couldn't possibly be any more inept, but its approval of visas for two of the Sept. 11 hijackers six months after the terrorist attacks brings government incompetence to new lows. And President Bush is said to be furious.

"The president wants to know how and why it happened, and he wants it fixed," White House Deputy Press Secretary Scott McClellan said today.

Bush ordered Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge and Attorney General John Ashcroft to investigate how the student visas for Muslim hijackers Mohamed Atta and Marwan al Shehhi were sent to Huffman Aviation flight school in Venice, Fla.

Since Sept. 11, the Bush administration has been working with the INS to update and computerize the system for issuing and tracking visas, particularly student visas, United Press International reported today.

McClellan called the release of the visas "unacceptable" and said Bush wanted the problems fixed "as quickly as possible."

Huffman Aviation applied for the visas for its two terrorist "students" on Aug. 29, 2000. The INS approved the visa for Atta on July 17, 2001, and the one for al Shehhi Aug. 9, 2001. The visas were mailed March 5 and arrived Monday. (It took the Postal "Service" a whole week to get a letter from D.C. to Florida?!)

The INS called the incident an embarrassment but whined about a backlog of applications that has existed for years.

Ah, government bureaucrats. And these are the people that vote-greedy Democrats and weak-kneed Republicans put in charge of our airport "security."

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

Bush Administration
Homeland/Civil Defense
Immigration/Borders
War on Terrorism

[3AngelaD]

Yes, I happen to know. Doris Meissner resigned at the end of the Clinton administration. Thank God. She is one of those bureaucrats who bounces back and forth between Democratic administrations and private, left-wing think tanks such as, in her case, the Carnegie Foundation. Her husband, of the same ilk, was killed in that plane crash with Commerce Secretary Ron Brown.

President Bush named James Ziglar to replace her, a crony of Trent Lott whom Lott named to be Senate Sergeant at Arms. Ziglar has NO EXPERIENCE IN LAW ENFORCEMENT AND NO EXPERIENCE MANAGING an organization with thousands of employees. He was a lame Sergeant at Arms. Ziglar kept on board some of Meissner's worst appointees because HE DIDN'T KNOW ANY BETTER. His was a throw-away appointment, a sop to Trent Lott, because enforcing immigration laws has never been high on President Bush's list. It simply didn't occur to Carl Rove or Karen Hughes or anyone else with the President's ear that immigrants might do our country harm. Bush's approach is most charitably described as benign neglect.

And nothing that happened Sept. 11 appears to have changed that. While they are putting out elaborate and ludicrous "color" coded emergency alert schemes, bad guys continue to enter our country, stay in our country and break our laws. AdR

[Stand Watch Listen]

FYI...

Bush 'Plenty Hot' At INS Over Hijacker Visas Incident
March 13, 2002

(CNSNews.com) - President Bush Wednesday has ordered an investigation into why the Immigration and Naturalization Service sent out notices that two of the Sept. 11 hijackers' student visas had been approved. The INS said that Mohamed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi were notified last summer of the change in their visa status from visitor to student, but the "secondary notification," which was sent to the Florida flight school where they received training, did not go out until after the paperwork had been done by hand. Speaking at the White House Wednesday afternoon, Bush said he was "plenty hot" when he read about the mix-up. He has ordered Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge to work with Attorney General John Ashcroft to "get to the bottom of this" quickly. More to come.

[kinghorse]

Require critical govt agencies to become ISO certified. This kind of crap happens when there is no review or evaluation of customer satisfaction. We are the customer and we are not satisfied by the way the INS is securing our borders.

[YaYa123]

Thanks for the background on Ziegler. President Bush as much as threatened him today. He said "I appointed Ziegler, and now he's had two wake up calls." It sounded ominous to me, as if Ziegler doesn't have any more times at bat before he's outta there.

[Caipirabob]

I'll betcha that their motor-voter card will arrive next week.

The truly sad part about this statement is that you're probably right!

This government bureaucracy is like a runaway train. It's yet again only a matter of time before disaster strikes.

For all we know they've already awarded Osama amnesty and he's living in a condo next to the Bagle-Nosh off Collins Blvd in Miami.

[ffusco]

yes, now we can expect the same stellar service and personal attention we get at: The DMV The Postal Service The IRS county clerks at any courthouse Your local property tax office

[verity]

"With that said, why the copy intended for the school languished for months at INS with out being sent out, or that the files were not culled for this information during the investigation after September 11, is beyond me."

During an interview, a former INS employee revealed that the paperwork to which you refer is processed by a civilian contracting firm in Kentucky. Most likely it is a "low bidder" who hires the caliber of people from the same gene pool as airport security.
Also, the feds have crappy computer systems that cannot react. Remember the IRS system controversy?
IMHO, there are no simple [legal] solutions!

[Thorondir]

Let's just say it: NOTHING has been done to prohibit terrorists from entering and gaining legal status in this country.

Yeah, but they did a wonderful job of protecting us from that dangerous monster, Elian. (/sarcasm ... and barf).

Just how can things get so a$$ backward and screwed up?

[Rudder]

Why would the INS be "swamped?" Is there "pressure" upon the INS from a higher authority to process all the apllications it possibly can, or are they to take their time and do it right?

Even when run like a typical, inept bureacracy it would take even the smallest mind to realize all one has to do is take a "first-come-first-serve" approach. That is, create a waiting list. With such a list an application stays in the inbox for as long as it takes to process those who are in line before it.

That being done and, voila, no pressure and no more "swamp."

So...is there pressure on the INS to process applications as fast as they can, and, if so, who is exerting that pressure?

[capitan_refugio]

Verity - a keen observation! Low bidder on a government contract makes more sense now. Reminds me of that scene in the movie the right stuff when the Mercury astronaut are watching the rockets blow up and comment about riding a rocket designed by the low bidder. Too funny!!