Justice Dept. Assails High-Ranking INS Official

Pamela A. Barry, the “right hand” of INS Commissioner Doris Meissner, is harshly criticized in a Justice Department report for allegedly attempting to mislead members of Congress while serving as congressional liaison for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

The stinging 200-page report, which describes officials clearing out detention cells and significantly boosting staffing to make INS operations in Miami appear smooth for a congressional visit, names Barry as the highest-level INS official involved in the deception.

Some of the scores of immigrants released or transferred before the visit had criminal records; others were moved without required medical checks for communicable diseases, says the report, which has not been publicly released.

“It is one thing to instruct personnel to comport themselves professionally because of the arrival of VIPs and to ‘scrub the decks’ to present a clean and tidy workplace,” the report concludes.

“It is entirely different to give instructions that increase the risk of a public safety incident and that run counter to the very mission of the agency.”

The Justice Department used year-old e-mail and conducted more than 450 interviews to re-create the flurry of activity in Miami last year when INS officials prepared for the congressional delegation.

“Current population is 377,” one official wrote to her boss after tallying the number of detainees at an immigration facility. “We intend to move 40-50 aliens. . . . Another group to be stashed out of sight for cosmetic purposes.”

The boss typed back: “Great work so far.”

The 11-month investigation traced the deception all the way to INS headquarters in Washington, specifically to Barry, a former aide to former California Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. and now INS political liaison officer for Congress.

The extreme interest INS officials displayed in the congressional trip, led by Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley), illustrates just how eager some administration officials have been to present the immigration issue in a favorable light and to blunt criticism that the INS does not control the nation’s borders.

When the congressional delegation returned from Miami, Gallegly received a letter signed by 50 INS employees, who complained that their bosses had temporarily improved conditions for the visit. The congressmen then asked Atty. Gen. Janet Reno to investigate.

Without suggesting that Barry was personally involved in the release of immigrants, the report says that she “certainly played an important role in establishing a tone for the delegation’s visit which discouraged candor” and that “her own lack of candor during this investigation is also particularly disturbing.”

The report, which has prompted calls for congressional hearings, recommends that the INS fire or suspend several veteran officials--including Miami Director Walter Cadman and his deputy, Valerie Blake, and Eastern Regional Director Carol Chasse and her deputy, Michael Devine.

Meissner has transferred Cadman, Blake, Chasse and Devine to nonsupervisory positions until a review is completed and Justice officials are examining the report for possible criminal violations.

Before the congressional visit, Barry told Miami immigration officials that “no one should discuss [the Miami airport’s INS] staffing problems” with the delegation, the report says. Barry denied making the remark, but the inspector general found her denial “not credible.”

Barry did not return telephone calls seeking comment Friday.

The report questions whether Barry can continue as the INS congressional liaison officer and recommends that she be suspended for 15 to 30 days “at the very least.”

Gallegly singled out Barry for criticism.