Dismantling the INS

I can now understand why the Immigration and Naturalization Service is often characterized as the poor stepchild of the Department of Justice. The Commission on Immigration Reform, a federal advisory panel studying immigration issues, has recommended dismantling the INS (Aug. 6). We can interpret this as a definite admission by the panel that the problems at the INS are beyond repair.

But the panel’s recommendation to distribute the INS’ different tasks to other federal offices may not be the solution either. It is not clear that replacing the INS with the U.S. Department of State, to handle citizenship and green card applications, would result in a more efficient process. The State Department’s historical mission has always focused on responsibilities overseas.

Dismantling the INS begs the question: Does a change in form necessarily mean a change in substance?

ED ANCIANO

Supervising Immigration Attorney

Asian Pacific American Legal

Center, Los Angeles