Florida Officials Frustrated in Their Quest for INS Records

Florida investigators are frustrated by their inability to obtain federal immigration records of foreigners who remain in the country with expired visas, information officials believe could help stop terrorists.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has asked the Immigration and Naturalization Service for a list of anyone whose non-immigrant visa has expired as well as anyone who obtained a visa and listed Florida as their destination.

The INS has held up the request while determining how the state plans to use the information. INS officials said local authorities do not have authority to detain someone just because they are in the country illegally.

Tim Moore, commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, said police need the information “to be part of the solution” in fighting terrorism.

“The complexity of the task at hand is not lost on me, but we put people on the moon and go get them routinely and bring them back home. I think we can figure out a way to do this,” Moore said.

Florida officials are particularly interested in the information because at least 15 of the 19 alleged hijackers in the Sept. 11 attacks had links to the state. Three were in the United States on expired visas, including Satam M.A. Al Suqami, who had a Florida driver’s license. He was aboard American Airlines Flight 11, which crashed into the World Trade Center’s north tower.

The state wants the immigration records so police officers will know if people they stop or arrest are in the country illegally, Moore said.

The state’s request has been pending for about two months.

“It’s frustrating,” Moore said. “It’s almost an attitude in the culture.”

The INS is trying to determine if it can release the information, said Russ Bergeron, an agency spokesman in Washington.

“Before we can respond, we have to look at the privacy implications of the requests. We have to look at the legal restrictions placed on data,” he said. “And we also have to look at the jurisdictional issues.”

James Goldman, INS assistant district director for investigations, said there are plans to assign an INS agent to work with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

“Certainly we need help in terms of cooperation,” he said. “We’re not going to be deputizing 40,000 local law enforcement officers.”

The INS is giving police information on about 314,000 immigrants who were ordered deported but who have not left the country.

That’s a good start, Florida officials said, but not enough.

“If they get stopped, they need to have the fear of God in them, that by God, these officers have a lot more information than they did before Sept. 11 and the days of moving around freely are over,” Marion County Sheriff Ed Dean said.

Some immigrant advocates say Florida is going too far in its request.

“I understand we’re at war and there might be terrorism here, but we’re pulling records to do more racial profiling and I’m appalled,” Tampa immigration attorney John Ovink said.

That’s not so, Florida officials said. “This is not about going out and rounding up folks. This is about being able to determine the legal status of someone who is already under the microscope for some other reason,” Dean said.