House Report Calls for Quick Fix of INS

WASHINGTON — Federal immigration policy suffers from inadequate leadership, insufficient funding and a failure by the White House and Congress to fully recognize the extent and impact of a continuing flood of job-seekers entering the country, a House panel has concluded.

The problems reflect “debilitating inefficiencies” in the Immigration and Naturalization Service and demand immediate, short-term steps, the House Government Operations Committee said in an unreleased report made available Tuesday to The Times.

The report notes that fundamental changes will take years to accomplish but said many other changes should be made promptly. “New laws won’t solve many of the (INS) problems,” the report said. It cited shortcomings in training, supervision, discipline, financial management and accounting.

The report also said Congress should seriously consider merging the border management responsibilities of the INS with those of the U.S. Customs Service. Vice President Al Gore’s “reinvent government” project is expected to make a similar proposal next month.

In a separate letter to Atty. Gen. Janet Reno, Rep. Gary A. Condit (D-Ceres), chairman of the subcommittee that gathered information for the report, said that as the Justice Department and Congress focus on legislative changes, “it is vital that the resolution of these administrative problems not be neglected.

“Legislative reform will be meaningless if the (INS) lacks the skills and resources necessary to implement new laws,” Condit wrote. The INS is an arm of the Justice Department.

Ralph Thomas, INS acting director of congressional and public affairs, noted that the report, titled “The INS: Overwhelmed and Unprepared for the Future,” is based on hearings conducted in March. This was immediately after Reno had been confirmed, Thomas said, adding that “the criticisms go back to an earlier time. Many of the management and financial problems are not current.”

The report, however, said that despite a 150% increase in its budget since 1981, the number of INS agents patrolling the border and hearing claims of asylum is inadequate. For those agents it has hired, the INS “has been delinquent in ensuring that they are adequately screened and supervised,” the committee said.

The panel questioned “the sufficiency of investigations into allegations of misconduct by INS personnel--in particular, Border Patrol personnel who are often accused of abusive behavior. When misconduct or inadequate performance is identified and documented, INS discipline is ‘spotty.’ ”

The report cited testimony by witnesses that “some INS personnel lack a basic sense of civility and courtesy in dealing with the public.”

Noting that the INS budget includes about $1 billion appropriated by Congress and $586 million in fees charged for services, the report said audits “have repeatedly identified profound problems” in handling both types of funds.

“Accounting systems are inadequate, internal controls lacking and the information used by management in making spending decisions is flawed,” the report said.

Citing testimony by some witnesses that the INS has “an enforcement bias,” the committee said the service functions of the INS receive short shrift, reflecting concerns over illegal immigration.

The “INS must work to develop a strong service attitude on the part of its employees who provide such services to the public,” the report said. “Employees must be evaluated and rewarded on the quality of services provided and encouraged to identify ways in which to make improvements. Similarly, they should be held accountable and disciplined for failures in courtesy and efficiency.”

The committee took note of concerns that combining the border management functions of the INS and the U.S. Customs Service, a branch of the Treasury Department, could distract from INS administrative reform efforts.

“We also recognize that this is an era of declining government resources,” the committee said, contending that the merger should be explored further to see if it could free up INS resources.

Rep. Al McCandless (R-La Quinta), while praising the report for “its forthright discussion of the challenges confronting the INS,” said his only hesitation is the “seeming lack of recognition that many of these factors are outside the agency’s control and that Congress and the Administration bear much of the blame for our border woes.”