Bush Refuses INS Appeal for Money

Congressional Democrats assailed the White House on Wednesday for rejecting a request by immigration authorities for more money to close a loophole in the visa system exploited by some of the Sept. 11 hijackers, escalating an election-year flap over homeland security spending.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service sought $52 million to pay for 441 more agents to pursue foreigners who overstay their visas. But the request was turned down by Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., head of the Office of Management and Budget.

An administration official said that the White House has proposed a big increase in the INS budget for next year--evidence of its commitment to cracking down on visa scofflaws.

But the budget office is recommending less money than the INS wants for the current year, the official added, because the agency still hasn’t spent a large chunk of the nearly $500 million in post-Sept. 11 funding allocated late last year.

Still, Democrats accused Daniels of being tightfisted on homeland defense needs.

“Mitch Daniels’ repeated efforts to starve homeland security of resources has now reached a new low: Under-funding efforts that go directly to the heart of where our law enforcement system failed on Sept. 11,” said David Sirota, a spokesman for Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee.

Amy Call, a spokeswoman for the White House budget office, responded that the administration is “aggressively dealing” with the problem of expired visas.

Two of the Sept. 11 hijackers were in the U.S. on expired visas, according to the INS.

An INS spokesman said the agency would not comment on the budget dispute.

The administration in March sent Congress an emergency spending request for an additional $27.1 billion this year for needs linked to the war on terrorism.

Most of the money would go to the Pentagon, with the rest directed toward a wide range of other activities, from the New York recovery effort to homeland security.

The administration also has proposed a $38-billion increase in homeland security in next year’s budget, which would include hiking the enforcement budget for the INS by $1.2 billion, to $5.3 billion.

Some of that money would go to set up a $362-million system to track the arrival and departure of noncitizens, expected to be complete by the fall of 2004.

Currently, the INS has 1,950 agents performing a wide range of enforcement activities, from gathering intelligence on suspected terrorists to hunting down visa violators.

The dispute over whether to funnel more money to the INS comes less than a week after the House voted to split up the agency.

Under the measure, which is pending in the Senate, its law enforcement and service roles would be handled by separate bureaus within the Justice Department.

The INS has come under persistent attack as a poorly managed agency.

Critics lambaste it for mishandling paperwork, losing track of deportees and meting out justice with different standards in different parts of the country.