Posted on 03/19/2002 12:27:45 PM PST by kattracks
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two Sept. 11 hijackers studied at a Florida flight school long before their student visas were approved, the head of the U.S. immigration service said on Tuesday, in an admission of problems at the agency.
James Ziglar, commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, told reporters, "I would have to say it is an understatement that INS's procedures ... were clearly not the most efficient and certainly not the most logical."
Ziglar has been under fire since last week, when the INS informed the flight school the student visas had finally been approved. But he added in a speech at the National Press Club, "This problem has been fixed and it was being fixed March 11 when this showed up."
On that day, exactly six months after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania by hijacked planes, the Florida flight school where Mohamed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi were trained received notification from the INS that their student visas had been approved.
Atta and Al-Shehhi trained at Huffman Aviation International in Venice, Florida, and are believed to have piloted the two planes that hit New York's World Trade Center.
The two managed to study at the flight school long before their student visas were approved, Ziglar said, noting this was a common occurrence for foreign students because of the long processing time to change a visitor's visa to a student one.
STUDENTS WITHOUT BACKGROUND CHECKS
"Persons in the United States on visitors' visas have been allowed in the past to begin school before their applications to change to student status have been approved," Ziglar said.
"This enables them to study, and in the case of shorter programs, even to complete or nearly complete their studies before their eligibility has ever been refused," he said. "Atta and Al-Shehhi fit into that description."
Ziglar said his agency was considering an "obvious" solution to the problem: "We are considering changing the regulation so that only approved foreign students may study in the United States. Students will not be approved until background checks are completed."
He said INS was also considering changing regulations to cut the processing time for applications for the change to student visa status to 30 days.
Ziglar, who took the helm at INS one month before the attacks, said Atta and Al-Shehhi were notified last July that their visitors' visas had been changed to student visas, as they had requested.
However, he said INS rules then in place required that the copy of the form telling the flight school of the visa change was not to be sent until at least six months after the original approval.
The six-month delay was required because of concerns over data storage, Ziglar said, adding that this was part of the problem.
"The biggest problem is that INS has been relying on a largely paper-based system that must rely in turn on scanning documents to make them accessible," he said.
The INS said on Friday it had made personnel changes after the embarrassing incident that triggered widespread criticism, moving four people to various positions and moving the career employees who had been in those posts to other jobs within the Justice Department.
Before I provide a more detailed report on the subject of today's hearing, let me summarize the major points. First, with respect to criminal aliens in detention, I want to be very clear -- we have contacted our 3 regions, who have contacted our 35 districts, each of whom report that no aliens have been released who are subject to mandatory detention. INS will continue to detain and remove from the U.S., criminal aliens subject to the mandatory detention requirements of the 1996 immigration law. Indeed, the number of criminal aliens we remove has nearly doubled from 28,600 in FY1993 to 56,100 in FY 1998. Despite significant growth in detention space and greater efficiency in removing aliens, INS nevertheless is detaining more people today than current funding allocations will support. INS, working with the Department, will aggressively address this matter.That's the Doris you are inquiring about?Second, with respect to Border Patrol funding, the Administration's commitment to effective border enforcement remains unwavering. With Congressional support, INS doubled the size of the Border Patrol to 8,000 agents since FY 1993, and plans to add another 1,000 this year. The Administration's FY 2000 budget continues support for Border enforcement investing heavily in force-multiplying technology to increase the effectiveness and enhance the safety of our agents. The budget also requests $48 million in construction funding to border infrastructure and facilities to house the sharp increase in agents over the past few years.
Well she went back to a cushy job at the Carniege Endowment as I recall. Like all the Clinton insiders, going for the big bucks.
After careful evaluation of the relevant facts, INS has determined that Mr. Juan Gonzalez of Cuba has the sole legal authority to speak on behalf of his son Elian regarding Elian’s immigration status in the United States. There is no question that Mr. Gonzalez is Elian’s father. Moreover, Mr. Gonzalez has had a close and continuous personal relationship with his son. During INS’s interviews with Elian’s father, the father provided vivid details about his parental relationship with his son and about the nature of the bond that they share as father and son. He provided extensive documentation about Elian’s schooling and his medical and health histories, as well as photographs depicting the activities in which he and his other family members frequently participated with Elian.The scope of information and the level of detail that Mr. Gonzalez provided helped inform INS as to the nature and the closeness of the relationship Mr. Gonzalez shared with his son. INS has not uncovered any information that might call into question Mr. Gonzalez’s parental and legal rights with regard to Elian’s immigration status. During INS’s two meetings with Mr. Gonzalez, his wishes for Elian were discussed at some length. The father made it very clear during both of these meetings that he wants Elian returned to him as soon as possible.
Based on these meetings, INS believes that the father is expressing his true wishes, and therefore, we have determined that Elian should be reunited with his father, Mr. Juan Gonzalez.
INS has advised both Mr. Gonzalez and Elian’s great uncle in Miami of the decision and is prepared to work with all the parties involved to make the appropriate arrangements for Elian’s return to his father by Jan. 14, 2000.
Having reached a decision, INS believes there are several ways this decision can be carried out. The United States has discussed with the government of Cuba their consideration of allowing Mr. Gonzalez, Elian’s father, to travel to the United States to accompany Elian home. INS has also offered Elian’s great uncle in Miami, and any member of his Miami family, an opportunity to escort Elian back to Cuba. In addition, third parties have offered to assist in facilitating Elian’s return to his father. INS is ready to work with the family and others to make appropriate arrangements for Elian to be reunited with his father.
We believe that this decision can be carried out without INS’s taking charge of Elian.
All promoted!! In six months, all will be involved in implementing the merger between INS and Customs. All will receive even larger cash perfomance awards and all will be VIGOROUSLY defending INS turf so those bastards from Customs don't take unfair advantage of INS ineptitude.
The INS forces will now work 115% to ensure that they are not embarassed like this again. They don't care how many terrorists get in, so long as they can shift the blame and avoid being embarassed again.
Oh right....all parties involved being gregg craig (future representative/broker of all ADM or Reynolds tobacco deals with el Castro the murderer), and janet reno, and billy and her heinous clinton, and joan campbell, and castro and various INS thugs willing to shove AK-47's at a very scared little boy whose mommy's life was lost in a struggle to attain freedom for her child and herself.
Oh right....all parties involved being gregg craig (future representative/broker of all ADM or Reynolds tobacco deals with el Castro the murderer), and janet reno, and billy and her heinous clinton, and joan campbell, and castro and various INS thugs willing to shove AK-47's at a very scared little boy whose mommy's life was lost in a struggle to attain freedom for her child and herself.
But their eligibility was NOT refused!
No where in the statements above do I see where Juan Gonzales refused INS offers to reclaim his son,not once but twice in early months after Elian was rescued. Only after Fidel became interested in Elian did that change. Juan did what Papa Fidel told him to do or else. Clinton was happy to oblige. Wish the media could get the story right once in awhile.
Never Forget!...Regards
Do not worry now they can pay their $1000 and become legal immigrants and do what they choose..Pathetic!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.