Agencies quizzed on management of terror suspects

At a hearing Tuesday, members of the Senate Judiciary Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee asked why, almost two years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, federal agencies were allowing terrorism suspects to enter and stay in the United States.

Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee Chairman Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., expressed concern that information about suspected terrorists was not being shared quickly and effectively between agencies, a fear that arose from a June 18 GAO report (03-798).

GAO official Jess Ford testified that the report had found 240 visas had been revoked because of terrorism concerns since the attacks, but the Immigration and Naturalization Services often was not notified immediately of the revocation. In 43 cases, the agency was not notified at all.

Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., asked why the average notification time was 12 days, joking that he did not know of any e-mails that took that long to arrive. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., agreed and asked why, if businesses could share vital information quickly all the time, government agencies could not.

Michael Dougherty, director of operations in the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Homeland Security Department, expressed hope that the reorganization of the INS in the Homeland Security Department would help with communication and notification between agencies.

Besides expressing concern that the agencies were not equipped or prepared to communicate with one another, subcommittee members wondered what obstacles kept these agencies from expelling a suspected terrorist from the country.

In trying to expel such terrorists, officials make a distinction between suspects who entered the country without a valid visa and those whose visas were not revoked until after they entered.

Ford explained that there are significant legal challenges to expelling those in the latter category, because no matter what their legal status, suspects are still entitled to due process.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said, "We must make sure our enemies cannot thread the cracks in the system."