posted on March 12, 2002 04:41:29 PM newTHE IMMIGRATION and Naturalization Service approved one of the men, Mohammed Atta, even though he had previously re-entered the country several times on expired visas and had appeared on an immigration “watch list” as a result.
The visa extensions were approved last July and August, but the letters notifying the school, Huffman Aviation in Venice, Fla., were not mailed until March 5, almost six months after both men died in the suicide attacks. The INS blamed a large backlog of data in old processing equipment.
They still don't have it together. How many other "watch" list individuals who are still alive have they let in?
http://msnbc.com/news/723058.asp
posted on March 12, 2002 05:49:20 PM new
That sort of nonsense is quite common in our Federal Government. Whether an agency does well or not often depends upon where on the shitlist they stand with the current adminisration. That for the last 30 years the INS has been an unpopular agency with everyone except the American Public, you can imagine the tape and bailing wire that is holding it all together. Now that so much attention is being focused thier way, perhaps they can request and receive a real budget to do their jobs.
posted on March 14, 2002 09:26:00 PM new
"Now that so much attention is being focused thier way, perhaps they can request and receive a real budget to do their jobs."
Borillar, I haven't seen any evidence that suggests these INS workers were prevented from doing their jobs due to a lack of funding. There is, however, overwhelming evidence which suggests that the INS is yet another redundant bureaucracy rolling merrily along atop the government porkbarrel, seldom required to prove the value of its existence. And even when it is, like now with this VISA "embarrassment", there is at least one other government agency (there's that redundancy chip) it can point a finger at so as to get itself off the hook. Similar to when the NTSB hollers that it warned the FAA that there was a "problem" with Boeing 737s, and neither claimed to have the ability to do anything about it (which resulted in several of them crashing before Boeing was forced to redesign the 737's rudder controls).
We live in a world of politics without principles, and authority without accountability. I'm not willingly going to give any more "funding' to that mentality...
posted on March 15, 2002 05:49:16 AM new
The owner of the flying school was served a subpoena by the INS to return the original visa documents. I was going to make him an offer so I could sell copies on ebay, but I guess the evidence will be destroyed.
posted on March 15, 2002 01:37:43 PM new
The real problem is that nobody is (HORROR) WATCHING these people. The beaurcracy just grinds on pushing the paper.
posted on March 21, 2002 11:18:57 PM new
Like the Wisconsin DNR which is now called deer naturally rotting. Our republican governor appointed a politically correct person to head the agency and now one can figure out why it looks like the agency is incompetant.
