Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner Doris Meissner today told a Senate panel she agrees with Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., that some INS officials took actions earlier this year obviously aimed at derailing a legal immigration reform bill. Both the House and Senate eventually split legal from illegal immigration reforms, and approved narrower legislation to reform illegal immigration laws.
During an INS oversight hearing, Simpson pointed to a misleading and untimely press release from the INS that suggested the number of legal immigrants were on a downward trend, although key staff said these numbers would soon shoot up again. "There is no question in my mind that it was done for the purpose of deterring our effort to reform legal immigration," Simpson remarked. "I concur," Meissner replied, adding: "It created a real distortion of what we were trying to do. And for me, a major credibility problem for the agency." However, she added, "It was not our motive to try to undercut the process."
Last March, the INS released its annual fact sheet of statistics, three months early and one day before the Senate Judiciary Committee was to mark up its comprehensive immigration bill. "I have learned a lesson from this incident: One can never be too careful about surprises," Meissner said, explaining she and others at the agency were surprised by the way the release was received because it has never included projections of future numbers.
Simpson said legal immigration will increase by 1 million this year, making the INS press release "egregious misinformation." He also said the immigration measure just signed into law did not meet Congress' obligation to protect the American worker. "We failed on that in this session. That will have to be dealt with at a later time," he added.
NEXT STORY: Parks Bill Talks Continue