CHICAGO,
IL – In a letter to Chicago Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
Director Brian Perryman, U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) detailed
her one year review of the Chicago INS. Schakowsky wrote that modest improvements
have taken place, however, “[t]ere are a number of issues that continue
to be of concern to me and my constituents.” Schakowsky focused on
three areas: the Line, Application/Approval Process, and Detention.
Schakowsky
is leading the effort to reform the Chicago INS and to ensure that customers
receive the quality service they deserve. In addition, last
year, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims held a
field hearing in Chicago at the request of members of the Illinois delegation
to examine what Schakowsky calls the “culture of the customer is always
wrong” at the Chicago INS.
Below
is Schakowsky’s letter to the INS.
September
11, 2000
Mr.
Brian R. Perryman, District Director
Immigration
and Naturalization Service, Chicago Region
10
W. Jackson, Suite 600
Chicago,
IL 60604
Dear
Mr. Perryman:
This
letter is a follow up to meetings, correspondence and last September’s
Congressional field hearing on Chicago’s INS operations. As you know,
many who testified at the field hearing shared horror stories of INS’s
inefficiency, rudeness, insensitivity, and incompetence. In written
testimony, one of my constituents, Carrie Golus, from Chicago recounted
the abuse, disrespect and incompetence she and her British-born husband
experienced by the INS as they tried to obtain legal permanent resident
status for him. While this may have been an extreme illustration of how
a series of INS missteps affected a family, it unfortunately is not unique.
Every day as a result of INS mistakes, families are disrupted and people
are robbed of precious opportunities.
It
has now been over a year since I first visited “the line” at 10 West Jackson
and made suggestions for INS improvements. Since then, I am pleased
to say that, under your leadership, modest improvements have been made
to build a more customer-friendly atmosphere, reduce the line, make more
information officers available, and increase the availability of forms.
All of these improvements have resulted in improved service to customers
at the district office and a slightly more positive feeling about the INS
within the communities it serves. However, despite these improvements,
there are a number of issues that continue to be of concern to me and my
constituents. For the purposes of clarity, I have divided the issues
into three areas: the Line, Application/Approval Process and Detention.
While
I appreciate budget constraints that may hamper your ability to provide
the optimal service that customers at the Chicago INS deserve, I would
appreciate an update on the concerns raised in this letter. Please
know that I am aware of your request for twelve additional INS officers
to help deal with staffing shortages, and it is my understanding that you
have been allocated four temporary officers from other offices.
I would like an update as to the status of your staffing request and whether
you have been told if the temporary assignments may continue through next
year. In addition, I would appreciate your comments on the adequacy
of staffing at the Lincoln Service Center since their activities affect
your ability to adjudicate applications. I am anxious to work with
you to secure sufficient staff to meet the needs of our constituents.
The
Line
While
my staff and immigrant advocates have done periodic checks at 10 West Jackson
and have noticed some improvements, I’d like to take a moment to reiterate
what is being done to minimize the line in an attempt to ensure that these
improvements continue. It is my understanding that every morning
an information officer distributes 600 tickets to customers, who are then
escorted to the second floor to await service. Distributing the tickets
in many instances eliminates, or at the very least reduces, the line outside
the building at 10 West Jackson. In addition, information officers
are available from 7:30am to 4pm and are more willing to engage customers
in a helpful and respectful way. It is my hope that these practices
will continue.
Access
to information and forms needs further improvements. Although I believe
this is the area in which you have made significant progress, especially
with the addition of a kiosk to provide forms on the first floor, the partnership
with public libraries to make forms available, and increased on-line access
to certain forms, there are still areas that need improvement. Ensuring
that the Chicago office has enough staff to handle the volume of requests
is critical. This includes ensuring that telephone lines are open,
available and answered in a timely and accurate manner and that all windows
on the second floor are staffed with information officers able to provide
accurate and courteous service. These steps will go a long
way towards reducing the lines inside the building.
Finally,
special consideration for the needs of elderly immigrants, women with small
children, and immigrants with disabilities is needed. As I
stated at the field hearing, it is unreasonable and unacceptable to expect
the elderly, and women with young children and persons with disabilities
to be standing in lines and waiting in lobbies for hours at a time.
They should be afforded a comfortable waiting area with appropriate chairs
and easy access to rest rooms. This is not just a matter of convenience,
but a recognition of the physical demands of protracted periods of standing
in line. I understand that your intent was to build a room for this
purpose but that progress has been hampered by space limitations.
I would appreciate an update on this effort. Also, I find translation
services to be inadequate and in need of improvement. Sign language
interpreters and foreign language translators must be made available to
immigrants who need their service. I am interested to know the status
of your request for a multi-lingual video messaging system to better update
information to customers in waiting areas. I believe these remedies
would go a long way to alleviating complaints by immigrants who are deaf
or hard of hearing and would help in maintaining compliance with the Americans
with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Application/Approval
Process
Excessive
delays in processing leave people in limbo--they cannot work, travel, or
reunite with spouses or family members. Lengthy delays and inconsistencies
in INS processing have also taken a toll on businesses that need to hire
workers. I appreciate the efforts you have made to address the backlogs
and I believe some progress has been made. I would appreciate, however,
your assessment of the length of time, under ideal circumstances, it should
take INS to process N-400, N-600 and I-485 forms, and how long it currently
takes your office to process them.
Another
source of frustration for many immigrants is Chicago INS’s propensity for
losing and/or misplacing papers and applications. As a result of
INS’s disorganization, applicants are being forced to refile and repay
fines. The INS needs to recognize when they are at fault and use
their discretion to address applicants’ concerns and financial needs, by
expediting those processings and waiving additional fees. This is
crucial to restoring a sense of fairness and respect among the immigrants
and the communities you are charged with serving.
In
addition, I have received complaints from a large number of constituents
who are frustrated because they have written to the Chicago office with
questions and inquiries and have not received any response. Please
tell me what you are doing to strengthen INS’s responses to mail.
Is there at this time a dedicated unit working solely on correspondence?
If there is not one, is this currently a priority for you? Immigrants
should not have to have a congressional office make the request on their
behalf in order for them to get an accurate and timely response.
As
you know, a June 2000 Government Accounting Office Report found that the
Chicago INS may have lost or misplaced 4,000 files when the transfer of
data was made from Chicago to the Nebraska Service Center. I would
like to know how many files have been lost or misplaced and if any of those
files have since been accounted for. In addition, for the applicants
whose files were lost, do you have a mechanism in place to ensure that
all those who applied for naturalization before July 1, 1998, are given
interviews by September 30, 2000 as Headquarters had directed?
Since
the 1998 implementation of a new uniform fingerprinting rule, whose objective
was to help guarantee the overall integrity of the INS and improve the
customer service of the immigration process, many of my constituents have
come to me seeking assistance or intervention with INS over fingerprinting
problems. Fingerprint cards are being misplaced or separated from
the applications and immigrants are being notified of fingerprinting appointments
after the fact, or not at all. Also, due in part to processing
delays and backlogs, the fifteen months that fingerprints are good for
the purposes of processing an immigration application is often not sufficient
time for INS to process applications. As a result, many immigrants
are having to resubmit their fingerprints when the 15 months has expired
to ensure that they have valid prints for the interview and adjudication
parts of the process. This is causing much confusion for the applicants
and is oftentimes delaying their applications. I look forward to
working with you on either an administrative or legislative remedy to this
problem.
Detention
As
you know, the criteria, conditions and facilities under which immigrants
are being detained is of paramount concern to me. As I stated in
my June 29, 1999 letter, women and their children who are seeking asylum
being detained in separate facilities is unacceptable and borders on inhumane.
This detention system is inappropriate, fails to take into account the
well being of the asylum seeker and certainly has the potential to cause
permanent psychological damage to an infant or young child. The detention
last summer of 89 Chinese asylum seekers in a maximum-security jail in
Ullin highlighted the inappropriateness of our INS detention system. They
were treated like criminals, enduring shackles and handcuffs, with little
regard for their personal well-being. This was deplorable.
We can and should do better when faced with such difficult cases.
I
was pleased to hear in your September 10, 1999, letter that women have
been moved out of drunk tanks and small jails like Stone Park, which I
had the opportunity to witness first hand, and into better facilities in
county jails. However I still believe that the system is problematic.
In that same letter, you acknowledge the difficult challenge of housing
family groups, ie, women and children. Please explain to me what
progress has been made with the Regional and Headquarters offices of Detention
and Deportation, with respect to contracting a family housing facility
for the Chicago area. Extraordinary effort must be made to ensure
that women and children are not separated in detention facilities and that
asylum seekers are not housed with criminals in jails.
I
understand that the American Bar Association and INS Headquarters are negotiating
a set of standards for detainees under INS care. While I am anxious
for the release of these standards, the key will be their implementation
at the local level. I would appreciate meeting with you once they
are published to discuss their implementation.
As
you know, the 9th Congressional district serves as a gateway to America
for immigrants from all parts of the globe. Every day these hardworking
immigrants are embracing the challenges of their adopted nation and contributing
to the vibrancy of our community. I trust that you and I agree that
immigrants wishing to make America their home deserve fairness in our immigration
policy and respect from those charged with helping them attain that dream.
As
always, I thank you for your continued commitment and attention to these
critical concerns. I hope that we can continue to work to address
them to the best resolution of our constituents.
Sincerely,
Jan Schakowsky
Member of Congress |