INS Controls Fail the Test

Once again the Immigration and Naturalization Service has shot itself in the foot with sloppy management of the citizenship process. A federal grand jury in Sacramento has indicted 20 people on accusations related to corruption and overcharging by some private contractors that administer citizenship tests. There are questions regarding as many as 13,000 applications. Proper INS oversight surely would have prevented this embarrassment.

In the emotionally charged world of immigration and naturalization, the temptation now may be to stall or reverse privatization of the process. That would be a mistake. Processing was privatized because the INS staff alone could not handle the more than 1 million applicants each year who seek to become naturalized Americans.

The rational solution lies in tightening INS internal controls and aggressively monitoring. The process already is long and expensive for applicants. Corruption among contractors exacerbates the difficulties.

This is not the first time the INS has been under fire for failures in monitoring. In 1996, there were reports that 180,000 people were granted citizenship without undergoing thorough background checks. An audit revealed problems in all 24 INS regional offices.

Subsequently, under Commissioner Doris Meissner, the INS strengthened its controls, reorganizing its field offices, improving procedures and conducting training sessions for staff members. Last December a follow-up audit by KPMG Peat Marwick found that this problem had been largely resolved in all but four offices.

In responding to the latest allegations, the INS needs to promptly check the performance of each of its outside contractors. Those that do not meet the highest standards should be barred from having INS contracts. Nothing less will restore the integrity of the naturalization service, the gatekeeper for American citizenship.