*EPF116 02/04/2002
Text: U.S. Immigration Service Chief Outlines Reforms
(314,000 visa violators targeted for deportation) (4530)
The
Commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) said
terrorism will be overcome by identifying those who intend to do harm to the
United States, not by deterring would-be immigrants who want an opportunity to
become contributing American citizens. "We can not judge immigrants by the
actions of terrorists," INS Commissioner James Ziglar said in a speech to the
National Immigration Forum February 1.
Some of the terrorists who
hijacked commercial airliners on September 11 were later found to have been in
violation of the visas that gave them entry to the United States. That
discovery, Ziglar said, and the tragic events of that day "have profoundly
changed the climate and culture in which INS and other agencies operate."
The INS is working closely with law enforcement agencies and the U.S.
State Department in the investigation of the September 11 attacks, a review of
immigration procedures, and the implementation of new homeland security
measures.
In this process, Ziglar said INS has identified 314,000
"fugitive aliens." These are individuals living in the United States illegally
and subject to a deportation order. Ziglar emphasized that these people have
been granted due process under the law. "Instead of complying with the law,
however, they have chosen to 'jump bail' and abscond," Ziglar said. "This must
not continue."
Ziglar spoke to his pro-immigration audience about a
number of other issues:
-- International adoption cases and the
prevention of trafficking in children;
-- Initiatives on its policies
regarding the treatment of juvenile aliens;
-- Improvements in the
processing of applications;
-- The status of immigration talks with
Mexico and a proposed temporary worker program;
-- The proposed
restructuring of the INS.
Following is the speech as prepared for
delivery:
(begin text)
U.S. IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION
SERVICE
James W. Ziglar
National Immigration Forum
February 1,
2002
I am honored to have been invited by the National Immigration Forum
to speak about immigration policy and INS' expanded role in the aftermath of
September 11. I applaud Frank Sharry, Angela Kelley, and all the Forum staff for
their leadership in recognizing both the importance of this moment and the
critical need to continue, as the conference title suggests, "Moving Forward in
a Time of New Challenges."
Before I begin, I want to congratulate
Senator Kennedy for being named recipient of the Forum's newly established
"Promise of Liberty Leadership Award." During his forty years in Congress,
Senator Kennedy has been a tireless and highly effective champion of immigrants
and refugees. My only concern about him being named the first person to receive
this award is that the Forum may have set the bar too high for future
recipients.
Today, I want to talk about two key issues. The first is
security and how enforcement, particularly related to border security, has
evolved since September 11th. The second is children. Before I get to those
topics, I would like to touch on something that has been in the news recently
and to provide assurance to those who care as deeply as I do about America's
commitment to refugees. Concerns have been expressed that because of the late
start and the security enhancements added on refugee processing due to the
events of September 11th that the ceiling of 70,000 refugees set by the
President for this fiscal year simply could not be met. I want you to know that
we have designed a realistic plan to address this issue. Among other things, it
includes detailing a significant number of INS personnel to conduct refugee
interviews worldwide with a goal of meeting 70,000 admissions this year. I
realize that this will be a difficult task and that we must overcome some
logistical barriers and rely to a great extent on our partners in the State
Department in achieving this, but I believe this is so important that we must
try. And try we will. I intend to work closely with newly appointed Assistant
Secretary Gene Dewey on this and other important refugee matters.
As you
know, I was recruited for this job. However, had I known what I know today, I
would have pursued the job. This job provides its occupant with an opportunity
to make a positive difference iii the lives of millions of Americans and
millions of potential future Americans, and, in the process, to help shape the
future of our Nation. My enthusiasm for this job has been fueled further by the
realization that the overwhelming majority of INS employees are -- counter to
the widespread criticism I heard -- hard-working professionals who are deeply
dedicated to fulfilling the awesome responsibilities given to them by the
American people.
Meeting our responsibilities to the Nation has never
been easy, and the tragic events of September 11 have made it even more
difficult. These events have profoundly changed the climate and culture in which
INS and other agencies operate. I came to this job with the philosophy that the
United States ought to welcome immigrants -- to do everything within our power
to ensure that our country remains a beacon of hope and freedom for people
around the world. Even in the face of deadly terrorist attacks, that belief not
only is unshaken, it is stronger.
I have said it before, and I will say
it again, and again: The events of September 11 were caused by evil, not by
immigration. Therefore, efforts to enhance our national security must focus on
identifying and thwarting those who are intent on tearing us down, not on
preventing the many millions worldwide who are eager for an opportunity to join
us in building our Nation. We can and will protect ourselves against people who
seek to harm the United States, but we cannot judge immigrants by the actions of
terrorists.
Demands for swift, dramatic action are understandable; no
one wants a repeat of what happened on September 11. However, it is imperative
that our response be guided by a commitment to do what is right and effective,
not by what makes us feel better at the moment. The most effective way to
prevent terrorists and other criminals from exploiting our country's openness
for nefarious purposes is to build productive partnerships with those who share
the values we cherish. Even before September 11, INS was working to enhance our
level of cooperation and coordination with other federal agencies, as well as
with our international counterparts and private sector institutions. Here are
just a few examples of the joint efforts that make our Nation more secure:
-- We have worked with the FBI and other members of Joint Terrorism Task
Forces to pursue thousands of leads related to the September 11 attacks.
-- We are working with the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign
Assets Control to identify and freeze the assets of terrorist organizations and
their various front groups, and to pursue removal proceedings, when possible,
against principals and directors of those organizations and fronts;
--
We are working with the State Department to expand ongoing data sharing to
ensure that immigration inspectors have access to the Consolidated Consular
Database, which includes visa information and photos of visa holders. As a
result, this information is now available at all U.S. ports of entry, and we
have trained our inspectors on how to use it to detect and prevent fraud;
-- Immediately after September 11, INS, the State Department, and
Justice began working on new criteria for scrutinizing visa applicants, which,
are now in place. Additionally, we agreed to accelerate a planned reassessment
of six countries participating in the Visa Waiver Program. On-site visits to
each of these countries have been completed and recommendations are being
drafted;
-- Just two weeks ago, INS hosted the first U.S. Border
Patrol-Native American Border Security Conference. This event brought together
leaders and law enforcement officials from 19 tribes, whose lands are adjacent
to our borders, to meet with representatives of the Border Patrol, the Bureau of
Indian Affairs, and other agencies to explore ways to strengthen security along
the Southwest and Northern borders;
-- In December, Homeland Security
Director Tom Ridge and Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs John Manley signed a
Smart Border Declaration, which includes 30 initiatives aimed at enhancing
security along our shared border. INS played a major role in shaping this
agreement. Governor Ridge also will be traveling to Mexico to engender
broad-based approval for strengthening of our joint security, building on recent
INS cooperative efforts with the Mexican government;
-- The Coast Guard,
Customs, INS, Department of Energy, and the Department of Defense have been
working together diligently to improve container inspection and tracking. The
agencies will coordinate development of chemical, biological, radiological and
other nuclear detection devices to increase our inspection capability;
-- And the list goes on and on.
As a result of the events of
September 11, we have redoubled our collaborative efforts with other agencies to
ensure that students, visitors, and others who come to the United States
temporarily, abide by the terms of their admission. Our message is loud and
clear: Flouting of U.S. immigration laws must and will stop.
To this
end, INS is entering the names of the some 314,000 "fugitive aliens," or
absconders, into the FBI's National Crime Information Center database. It is a
large project that will require significant resources, but I believe it is
important that we do this -- we want visitors to our country to understand that
we expect them to stay here on the terms under which they are admitted. I want
to make it clear, however, that this is not a "sweep." These individuals have
been accorded due process. They appeared before immigration judges, went through
the appeals process, and now face a final order of deportation. Instead of
complying with the law, however, they have chosen to "jump bails" and abscond.
This must not continue.
This initiative highlights an important point
about how the laws of our Nation operate. That is, with rights come
responsibilities. The law provides the right to challenge deportation, and in
many cases to seek affirmative relief, through a judicial process. With that
right comes the responsibility to respect and obey the final decision, even an
adverse decision. Acceptance of that responsibility is crucial for a legal
system to maintain credibility.
INS is also working with the State
Department, Department of Education, and more than a half dozen other federal
agencies to carry out the Presidential Directive on student visa abuse issued in
early November. Among other things, we have been directed to implement a foreign
student tracking system. Development of this system, which we began prior to
September 11, is well underway, and we expect to begin implementation this
summer.
Again, those are just a few of the collaborative efforts with
which INS is engaged. We are committed to identifying and pursuing all possible
opportunities to work cooperatively with other federal, state, and local law
enforcement agencies in order to protect U.S. citizens, immigrants, and bona
fide visitors to this great country.
I would like to note that my second
topic -- children -- also has protection and security as its basis. In
particular, I want to tell you about efforts to improve protection and security
of two groups of juveniles within our jurisdiction most directly affected by
immigration: those adopted internationally and those in INS detention.
First, on international adoptions: let there be no doubt that it is the
best interest of each child that governs all our deliberations and actions in
this area. Our laws leave no ambiguity on this point. Under The Hague Convention
on Intercountry Adoption and the corresponding Intercountry Adoption Act of
2000, INS is obliged to protect the best interest of each child. This includes
ensuring that children are not taken from their birth parents through fraud,
duress, or sale. Meeting this obligation is paramount, and it takes precedent
over any responsibility we have to help U.S. citizens complete international
adoptions.
The problem we see in Cambodia and Vietnam right now, and saw
previously in Romania and Guatemala, is that Americans travel abroad and adopt a
child only to discover that the child does not qualify as an orphan under the
terms of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This happens when INS and State
Department are not provided the necessary information about a child early in the
process, thus preventing us from determining with certainty if a child, offered
for adoption, is, in fact, an orphan. If child trafficking is involved, we
cannot grant a visa no matter how forcefully a foreign government puts its
imprimatur on the adoption. I hope that every American would agree with that
moral and legal imperative.
Given the growing volume of evidence of
child selling and kidnapping that we are finding in some countries, I make no
apologies for INS' stance on questionable adoptions. Nevertheless, I understand
the overwhelming heartbreak prospective parents feel when they discover that
they can't bring a child to the U.S., a discovery that usually comes after great
financial and emotional expense.
I have instructed my staff to
re-examine existing adoption procedures to determine how they can be modified to
prevent, if not eliminate, these heart-wrenching circumstances. The Hague
Convention on Intercountry Adoption and the companion Intercountry Adoption Act
point us in the right direction. Under that treaty, a child must be
"pre-approved" as adoptable and eligible to immigrate before a family meets and
adopts the child. I don't intend to wait for formal implementation of the
Treaty. I intend to fashion a system that accomplishes that goal now.
In
addition, we must work aggressively with foreign government officials, as we are
in Cambodia and Vietnam, to establish a comprehensive system with integrity and
accountability, a transparent system where children will be properly identified
and the circumstances of their adoptions investigated up front. Before any
American family travels abroad they should know whether the potential adoptee
satisfies immigration requirements. I would like to ask the National Immigration
forum for its assistance on this issue, and to aid in the development of a
better system -- one that works.
Just as INS is committed to protecting
children who are adopted internationally, we are equally resolute in our
commitment to protect unaccompanied juveniles in our custody. At my Senate
confirmation hearing, I promised to make the welfare of unaccompanied minors a
top priority. Today, I am pleased to announce a new initiative on juvenile
policy.
This long-overdue project is based on two fundamental
principles: First, identifying and addressing juvenile concerns requires that
INS adopt a multi-disciplinary, "holistic" approach to all of the children and
young adults involved in immigration proceedings. Detention is just one aspect
of the issue. Second is the well-established principle that it is generally in
the child's best interest to be reunited with his or her family. Obviously,
unaccompanied minors who have been victims of abuse or neglect may need U.S.
protection to ensure that they are not returned to an abusive environment.
Absent evidence of such a threat, however, we should work toward developing a
system that quickly reunites children with their families, in the United States
or abroad.
As part of this new initiative, I commit INS to:
--
Minimizing the need for the detention of unaccompanied minors;
--
Seeking alternatives to such detention whenever possible; and
--
Ensuring that juveniles have access to all benefits and services to which they
are entitled.
INS is taking a number of steps to fulfill these
commitments. These include:
-- Establishing an Office of Juvenile
Affairs directly under the Commissioner, which will begin as soon as we receive
concurrence from the relevant appropriations committees;
-- Bolstering
the agency's long-standing effort to implement the Flores settlement, which as
many of you know, arose out of challenges to INS' juvenile detention policies
and, in 1997, resulted in the development of remedial detention, processing, and
release procedures;
-- Implementing as quickly as possible the
recommendations of the Office of the Inspector General with respect to the
treatment of unaccompanied minors in INS custody;
-- Appointing
specially designated juvenile Affairs Officers who will be responsible for the
treatment and care of children under their supervision;
-- Revising the
1998 guidelines on children's asylum claims to reflect recent development, in
law and policy; and providing supplemental training following publication of the
guidelines;
-- Developing field guidance that address ways in which
parole and withdrawals may be used, in appropriate cases, as alternatives to
placing unaccompanied minors in proceedings; and
-- Reviewing current
juvenile shelter care standards and existing procedures for handling special
juvenile applications and for determining age.
The Office of Juvenile
Affairs will coordinate the provision of timely, appropriate services to all
juveniles in INS facilities worldwide. It will also ensure that inadmissible
juveniles are returned to their families, when appropriate, and with the utmost
compassion and dignity. We are now in the process of identifying and
implementing best-practice models for service delivery; with emphasis on family
reunification and comprehensive case management. Having the Office of Juvenile
Affairs report directly to me will guarantee consistency, accountability, and
integrity in the agency's treatment of juveniles.
This is also what the
Flores settlement sought to establish. With the settlement set to expire this
spring, some of you are undoubtedly worried that it will be "business as usual."
I can assure you that such concerns are totally unfounded. We are committed to
codifying the Flores settlement, and have published a proposed rule to do so.
Two weeks ago, we re-opened the comment period on the proposed rule to allow
additional public input. I urge you to submit comments before the period closes
on March 15. Your feedback will be vital to ensuring our best response on this
important issue. Our commitment to codifying Flores is further underscored by
our efforts to expand the juvenile management information system develop as part
of the settlement.
Although the Inspector General's investigation found
that INS districts, Border Patrol sectors, and Headquarters were in substantial
compliance with the Flores agreement, it also identified a number of areas where
INS could improve. We welcome this thorough review of our juvenile detention
program and concur with the shortcomings identified, including the lack of
comprehensive standard operating procedures and the need to hire additional
staff to work directly with minors.
Additionally, INS will review
existing juvenile detention shelter care standards and make revisions where
warranted. We will review and update existing policies, including the use of
restraints and strip/pat searches, and provide additional training and guidance
as necessary. I know that many people cringe when they hear the words
"restraints" and "strip search" used in connection with juveniles. But we must
recognize that some of the juveniles we deal with don't fit the ideal of "sweet,
innocent" kids. Rather, some are violent young adults who have criminal records
and serious psychological problems. They must be treated accordingly, for their
own safety and for the safety of others.
Such concerns are just one of
the many factors that creates the diverse needs within our juvenile detention
population, To address individual needs more appropriately, INS will appoint
specially designated juvenile affairs officers, who will be responsible for the
treatment and care of children under their supervision. As full-time case
managers, they will be assigned a caseload small enough to allow theta
sufficient time to facilitate appropriate placement of return to their family.
One difficulty we frequently encounter when deciding what is appropriate
placement for a juvenile is determining age -- stemming from false reporting,
language barriers, and other circumstances. I have ordered a review of current
procedures -- dental exams and x-rays -- used to determine the age of an
individual in our custody to see if we can develop, in consultation with the
Public Health Service, a more refined method. This would better ensure that
those under the age of 18 are treated appropriately and are protected from
adults misrepresenting their age.
As I mentioned earlier, children who
have been victims of abuse, neglect, or abandonment require special protection,
and they can receive this by applying for special immigrant juvenile
classification, INS is reviewing existing procedures for handling these cases,
and we will soon publish a proposed rule clarifying application procedures. In
the interim, I am directing all INS district offices to review their records
regarding applications for consent and forward to Headquarters all requests that
have been pending for more than three months.
My vision for children's
issues does not end with these proposals. I am committed to providing the Office
of Juvenile Affairs with the resources and support it needs to reach the goal we
share: ensuring that all juveniles are treated with compassion and dignity. I am
also committed to investigating the future of children's issues within our
immigration framework. I will continue working with other components of the
Justice Department and other agencies to develop alternative approaches to
adjudicating children's claims. I also invite members of Congress and the
advocacy community to participate with me in discussions of how best to serve
the interests of juveniles in our care. And in that vein, I want to recognize
Senators Dianne Feinstein and Michael DeWine for their leadership on this issue.
With so much attention being focused on our response to September 11, it
is easy to neglect the considerable progress INS has made in carrying out its
"routine" duties, which I quickly discovered are anything but routine.
I
want to share some statistics that reflect significant improvements made in the
delivery of services, an area where the INS has been criticized in the past. In
FY 1999, the average wait for adjustment of status applications was 30 months.
Today, it is down to 13 months. That's because we are now completing 75,000
applications a month, triple the number processed three years ago. For business
case processing -- employment and H1-B visas, the average wait in 1999 was 8
months. It is now just two months. And the average waiting time for the
processing of naturalization applications, which was two years or longer in
1999, has been cut by more than half. We, however, need to do better. INS
remains committed to achieving the six-month processing standard set by
President Bush.
Naturalization is a vital area where I envision INS
doing much more than it does now. I'm not referring to a further reduction in
waiting times. That's a given. I'm referring to the need for INS to make the
naturalization process more meaningful for applicants and to assist potential
new Americans in becoming full and equal participants in our society. Compared
to some other nations, we generally do not offer significant assistance to those
who we want to bring into the mainstream of our values and society. I'm pleased
to see that the Forum has already recognized this need to do more, and, toward
that end, established the Center for the New American Community.
As
Commissioner, I want INS to become more involved in the assimilation process. I
want to identify areas where we can encourage immigrants to become more active
in civic participation, more schooled in our Constitution and system of
government, and to be better prepared to speak, read, and write English in a
rapidly changing American society. This can and should be done in a spirit of
cooperation and goodwill. But it is something that I believe must be done.
Some believe that our migration talks with Mexico have been forgotten in
the wake of September 11. I assure you that is not the case. Earlier this week
Assistant Secretary of State Mary Ryan and I hosted a group of high-level
Mexican officials to discuss ways of moving forward on a range of immigration
and security issues. Agendas for future meetings were discussed. We should move
forward in this area, not because it is in Mexico's interest, but because it is
in America's national interest.
The fundamental reality is that U.S.
employers need Mexican workers. These workers are important to the U.S. economy
both today and, most importantly, in the future. If we can find a way to move a
substantial portion of the current illegal flow from Mexico into legal channels
via a temporary worker program and can combine that with new, cooperative law
enforcement arrangements with Mexico, it could benefit the U.S. economy,
substantially reduce illegal migration, and enable the Border Patrol and other
law enforcement personnel to concentrate on dangerous criminal and potential
terrorist activity on the border and in the interior of the United States. These
are substantial national interests. I believe that one of the best ways to
enhance our security is by breaking the backbone of the criminal underground
that profits from smuggling human beings into the United States.
I know
many of you are interested in the fate of legislation to extend 245(i). I want
you to know that the Administration remains supportive and will continue to work
with the Congress to pass legislation is this area.
Many factors will
determine whether my vision for INS becomes a reality, but none presents a
greater obstacle than the agency's current structure. This Administration
recognizes that the existing structure impedes improved performance, and has
developed a plan to change it. The plan is mot tinkering at the edges, but
represents a major restructuring that, with the help of Congress, can be
achieved administratively.
Our plan splits INS' enforcement and services
functions into two distinct bureaus -- the Bureau of Immigration Services and
the Bureau of Immigration Enforcement -- but they are kept under one roof, with
a single head of the agency. Our current region and district structure will be
replaced with separate area structures for services, and enforcement, with the
Bureau of Immigration Services divided unto six geographic areas and the Bureau
of Enforcement into nine enforcement areas. Additionally, to improve
accountability, we are creating an Office of Customer Relations in the services
bureau and an Ombudsman in the enforcement bureau.
This new structure
will provide clarity of function -- something INS has sorely lacked -- while
enhancing accountability and professionalism. We are also confident that the
plant will create an opportunity to modernize our systems, make our procedures
more efficient, and adjust intelligently to the increased workload the agency
has, and will continue to face, in both services and enforcement.
It is
not just you and other INS' constituents who deserve a better agency; so do our
employees. They are great people -- motivated, dedicated, and highly
professional. I have a pact with them that we will openly adroit to weaknesses
and failures and fix them.
In closing, I would like to offer some
personal reflections on our national identity. Fear is something that we have
always disdained. Courage is our signature. Taking risks on new people and new
ideas fuels our drive to achieve and maintain a society that is the envy of all
history. Practicing and protecting freedom has given wing to a reality about
which men of yore could only have fantasized. If fear blinds our eyes to the new
and the untried, and freedom is relegated to the ash heap of history, we will
stumble into an abyss from which there is no return.
Thank you.
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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