BCIS (a.k.a. INS) Comes Under Fire for Failure in Enforcement

by Samuel McTyre Saturday, June 22, 2002

The House Immigration Subcommittee questioned the BCIS (a.k.a. INS) on June 19, on its record in finding and removing undocumented immigrants from the US.

The hearing confirmed that certain members of the subcommittee intend to emulate the Bush administration’s penchant for terrorizing the American public. In a pronouncement reminiscent of the McCarthy era, the subcommittee's chairman, Rep. George Gekas, R-Pa., noted Census Bureau estimates that the undocumented population tops 8 million. Gekas said: "There are thousands among those millions, perhaps millions among those millions, who have exactly that kind of mindset . . . to become terrorists."

Many of the members  were not impressed with the Rep. Gekas' attack.  "The economy has relied on the presence of undocumented workers for years," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. "Those who work in fields and hotels do not pose a terrorist threat," she said. "If we turn this into an effort to evict farm workers instead of evicting terrorists, we will put America at risk" and harm the economy, she said.

In a statement prior to the hearing Gekas had referred to the BCIS (a.k.a. INS) record. The BCIS (a.k.a. INS) has apprehended 700 of the nearly 5,900 foreigners from countries believed to have active al-Qaida networks with final orders of deportation. Inferring that the remaining 5,200 were all still in the US, Gekas termed that a "shocking record."

Joseph Greene, BCIS (a.k.a. INS) assistant commissioner for investigations, offered an all too familiar justification, telling the subcommittee that the agency is hampered by a lack of resources to find illegal immigrants in the United States. Greene noted that there are fewer than 2000 special agents assigned to "interior enforcement."

Testimony from the Richard Stana of the General Accounting Office attributed the BCIS (a.k.a. INS) failure to a lack of good management information.

The truth lies somewhere between the two positions. BCIS (a.k.a. INS), under sharp congressional scrutiny, has a difficult task. The agency received billions of dollars during the 1990s to improve enforcement at the Southwest border, but most of that funding has not been dedicated to the apprehension of illegal immigrants already inside the United States.

Most immigration experts outside of Congress agree that legalization of undocumented foreigners is the most effective way to control that population. They argue that rather than hunting people down as they contribute to our economy, we should offer them the opportunity to legalize their immigration status. That would welcome them into out society, experts explain, if they pass all the security checks imposed on new immigrants. It is better to know who is here, than to force more than 8 million people underground.

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