I.N.S. Shredder Ended Work Backlog, U.S. Says

[tonado]

Someone posts this on CUC.

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January 31, 2003

I.N.S. Shredder Ended Work Backlog, U.S. Says

By JOHN M. BRODER

 

 

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 30 — Tens of thousands of pieces of mail come into the huge Immigration and Naturalization Service data processing center in Laguna Niguel, Calif., every day, and as at so many government agencies, it tends to pile up. One manager there had a system to get rid of the vexing backlog, federal officials say. This week the manager was charged with illegally shredding as many as 90,000 documents.

 

Among the destroyed papers, federal officials charged, were American and foreign passports, applications for asylum, birth certificates and other documents supporting applications for citizenship, visas and work permits.

 

The manager, Dawn Randall, 24, was indicted late Wednesday by a federal grand jury, along with a supervisor working under her, Leonel Salazar, 34. They are accused of ordering low-level workers to destroy thousands of documents from last February to April to reduce a growing backlog of unprocessed paperwork.

 

Ms. Randall was the file room manager at the I.N.S. center. Mr. Salazar was her file room supervisor. The Laguna Niguel center handles paperwork for residents of California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and Guam and is one of four immigration service centers around the country operated by private contractors under I.N.S. supervision.

 

According to the federal indictment, Ms. Randall ordered her subordinates last January to count the number of unprocessed papers in the filing center. They reported that about 90,000 documents were waiting to be handled. In February, the government says, she ordered at least five night-shift workers to begin shredding many boxes of papers.

 

By the end of March, the backlog had been cut to zero, and Ms. Randall ordered her subordinates to continue destroying incoming paper to keep current, the government says.

 

"There was no I.N.S. policy that required this, nor was she ordered to do it by any superior, as far as we know," said Greg Staples, the assistant United States attorney handling the case. "The only motive we can think of is just the obvious one of a manager trying to get rid of a nettlesome problem."

 

Mr. Staples said one frustrating thing about the case was that most of the evidence had been carted out with the trash and that it was impossible to identify all of the victims.

 

"It's like a murder case without a body," he said. "We will never really know what was destroyed."

 

The shredding was discovered in April by an agency supervisor who witnessed what appeared to be unauthorized destruction of documents. The I.N.S. office of internal audit, the Justice Department's inspector general and the United States attorney's office for Southern California conducted the investigation that led to this week's indictments.

 

Ms. Randall and Mr. Salazar were each charged with conspiracy and five counts of willfully destroying documents filed with the I.N.S. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. Each of the other counts can bring three years in prison.

 

Their subordinates were not charged because they were low-level workers acting on instructions, the government said.

 

After the shredding was discovered, the immigration service opened a hotline for people who suspected their paperwork had been destroyed. Agency officials helped petitioners reconstruct their files and gave applicants the benefit of the doubt if they could not replace the documents they had submitted, said Lori Haley, a spokeswoman for the I.N.S.'s western regional office.

 

She said the agency made an effort last year to publicize the problem and was confident that it had rebuilt most of the lost files. She also said that additional staff members had been hired at the center and that oversight had been tightened.

 

"Monitoring of the activities of the support services contractor has been enhanced at the service center," Ms. Haley said. "All materials to be shredded or destroyed are reviewed first by I.N.S. personnel to make sure that no unauthorized materials are destroyed."

 

Ms. Randall's lawyer, Joseph G. Cavallo, said today that he had not read the charges and would not comment. He said, however, that Ms. Randall would plead not guilty at her arraignment on Monday. Mr. Salazar's lawyer, Tom Brown, did not return calls seeking comment.

 

The four document processing centers are operated under a $325 million contract with JHM Research and Development of Maryland, which in turn subcontracts the operations to two other companies. John Macklin, president of JHM, was unavailable for comment.

 

Mr. Staples, the federal prosecutor, said the contractors were cooperating with the investigation and would not be charged unless more evidence against them was developed.

 

"If we had found criminal liability, we would have indicted the companies," he said.

 

 

 

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company |

[Mick]

 

This is absolutely unbelievable! I am speechless, totally speechless. Who do these folks think they are, Enron? And I was unaware that INS outsourced their work to private contractors. I hope none of us were affected by this outrage.

 

It makes me wonder if this "solution" has been used elsewhere.

 

Thanks for posting this Tony. I doubt I would have heard about it over here.

[AngryTexan]

I am generally opposed to the death penalty, but in this case....................

[Lurker]

Also of interest--from today's NYT:

 

State Department Link Will

Open Visa Database to Police Officers

 

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 — Law enforcement officials across the country will soon have access to a database of 50 million overseas applications for United States visas, including the photographs of 20 million applicants.

 

The database, which will become one of the largest offering images to local law enforcement, is maintained by the State Department and typically provides personal information like the applicant's home address, date of birth and passport number, and the names of relatives....

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/31/national/31COMP.html

[Mick]

Also of interest--from today's NYT:

 

State Department Link Will

Open Visa Database to Police Officers

 

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 — Law enforcement officials across the country will soon have access to a database of 50 million overseas applications for United States visas, including the photographs of 20 million applicants.

 

The database, which will become one of the largest offering images to local law enforcement, is maintained by the State Department and typically provides personal information like the applicant's home address, date of birth and passport number, and the names of relatives....

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/31/national/31COMP.html

Can you spell "Big Brother"? Geez!

[owenkrout]

Wait a minute! If my brother, Sgt. Krout, Gardner, Kansas Police Department, can call up the visa application information on my wife in a matter of minutes by simply inputing her name, or GUZ number, then why the !@#$ can't the US government give her final clearance on her already approved visa in less than the 25 weeks minimum that they will now take?

[Mick]

Wait a minute!  If my brother, Sgt. Krout, Gardner, Kansas Police Department, can call up the visa application information on my wife in a matter of minutes by simply inputing her name, or GUZ number, then why the !@#$ can't the US government give her final clearance on her already approved visa in less than the 25 weeks minimum that they will now take?

You raise one hell of a valid point Owen. This has gone beyond ridiculous into the realm of the absurd. Whoever is behind this, it is vivid illustration, again, of what their priorities are.

 

Of course, your brother may have trouble pulling up her name and photo if they were shredded in some outsourced processing center.

[PJ]

Wow ... that's an amazing story! Sheesh, I'm very busy at work and doing my best to keep up, but if I were to shred backlogged work instead of completing it, I would be fired on the spot.

[Mick]

Wow ... that's an amazing story!  Sheesh, I'm very busy at work and doing my best to keep up, but if I were to shred backlogged work instead of completing it, I would be fired on the spot.

You and just about anyone else PJ!

 

And upon closer reading of the article, I discovered that this manager was 24 years old.......hmmmmm.....that seems a little young for such an important position. The article mentions the "four processing centers". Does this mean the others, Texas, Nebraska, and Vermont are also run by "private contractors"? That's how I read it.

 

Geez....the fireworks are popping outside my window now like crazy. 25 minutes until New Year.

[kkimm]

Wow ... that's an amazing story!  Sheesh, I'm very busy at work and doing my best to keep up, but if I were to shred backlogged work instead of completing it, I would be fired on the spot.  

You and just about anyone else PJ!

 

And upon closer reading of the article, I discovered that this manager was 24 years old.......hmmmmm.....that seems a little young for such an important position. The article mentions the "four processing centers". Does this mean the others, Texas, Nebraska, and Vermont are also run by "private contractors"? That's how I read it.

 

Geez....the fireworks are popping outside my window now like crazy. 25 minutes until New Year.

 

As far as I know, the mailroom of VSC (Vermont Service Center) is sub-contracted to a third party. Earlier this year, they (VSC) switched from one contractor to another. This was stated in their public statement and is said to be the cause of the delay in processing times at that time...

[owenkrout]

I already have an e-mail letter out to Mr. Broder informing him that there are that many American citizens awaiting already approved visa applications.

 

I checked the article files and it seems that the NY Times has recently taken an interest in the immigration fiasco. We have been searching for an interested media source. Well here it is. Get some letters out to them encouraging them to investigate this situation. They are a national, actually an international paper, so it doesn't matter that you don't live in NY.

 

The New York Times, 229 West 43rd Street, New

York, New York 10036

 

national@nytimes.com

 

washington@nytimes.com

[AZwolfman]

I checked the article files and it seems that the NY Times has recently taken an interest in the immigration fiasco.  We have been searching for an interested media source.  Well here it is.  Get some letters out to them encouraging them to investigate this situation.  They are a national, actually an international paper, so it doesn't matter that you don't live in NY.

 

The New York Times, 229 West 43rd Street, New

York, New York 10036

 

national@nytimes.com

 

washington@nytimes.com

This is the kind of action by a manager that could get the public's attention, especially with follow-up stories of thousands of already-approved visa applicants still waiting with no real excuses from the government. I should have a letter out to John Broder by tomorrow. NY Times has already opened the can of worms. We can supply them with enough to keep this story alive.

[Ana]

i just read the paper shredder story. i feel like i am going to throw up. we are so vulnerable. these people have complete control over our lives, and can literally tear them to shreds.

[Mick]

i just read the paper shredder story.  i feel like i am going to throw up.  we are so vulnerable.  these people have complete control over our lives, and can literally tear them to shreds.

I read this last night for the first time Ana and, like you, I was sickened by the whole thing. I hoped a night's sleep would make me feel better about it but guess what, it didn't help! I just cannot fathom this. It boggles the mind.

 

And yes Owen, my e-mail to Borders has already been sent. I think if we flood the Times, the time is right and in our favor. It is a natural tie in.