[aclug-L] Re: NYTimes.com Article: I.N.S. Shredder Ended Work Backlog, U.S. Says

[ironrose <ironrose@xxxxxxx>]

Yes, it sounds like the group is "alive" and well again.

jlweaver@xxxxxxx wrote:

>This article from NYTimes.com 
>has been sent to you by jlweaver@xxxxxxx.
>
>
>Is this enough activity ???
>
>jlweaver@xxxxxxx
>
>
>I.N.S. Shredder Ended Work Backlog, U.S. Says
>
>January 31, 2003
>By JOHN M. BRODER 
>
>
>
>
> 
>
>LOS ANGELES, Jan. 30 - Tens of thousands of pieces of mail
>come into the huge Immigration and Naturalization Service
>data processing center in Laguna Niguel, Calif., every day,
>and as at so many government agencies, it tends to pile up.
>One manager there had a system to get rid of the vexing
>backlog, federal officials say. This week the manager was
>charged with illegally shredding as many as 90,000
>documents. 
>
>Among the destroyed papers, federal officials charged, were
>American and foreign passports, applications for asylum,
>birth certificates and other documents supporting
>applications for citizenship, visas and work permits. 
>
>The manager, Dawn Randall, 24, was indicted late Wednesday
>by a federal grand jury, along with a supervisor working
>under her, Leonel Salazar, 34. They are accused of ordering
>low-level workers to destroy thousands of documents from
>last February to April to reduce a growing backlog of
>unprocessed paperwork. 
>
>Ms. Randall was the file room manager at the I.N.S. center.
>Mr. Salazar was her file room supervisor. The Laguna Niguel
>center handles paperwork for residents of California,
>Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and Guam and is one of four
>immigration service centers around the country operated by
>private contractors under I.N.S. supervision. 
>
>According to the federal indictment, Ms. Randall ordered
>her subordinates last January to count the number of
>unprocessed papers in the filing center. They reported that
>about 90,000 documents were waiting to be handled. In
>February, the government says, she ordered at least five
>night-shift workers to begin shredding many boxes of
>papers. 
>
>By the end of March, the backlog had been cut to zero, and
>Ms. Randall ordered her subordinates to continue destroying
>incoming paper to keep current, the government says. 
>
>"There was no I.N.S. policy that required this, nor was she
>ordered to do it by any superior, as far as we know," said
>Greg Staples, the assistant United States attorney handling
>the case. "The only motive we can think of is just the
>obvious one of a manager trying to get rid of a nettlesome
>problem." 
>
>Mr. Staples said one frustrating thing about the case was
>that most of the evidence had been carted out with the
>trash and that it was impossible to identify all of the
>victims. 
>
>"It's like a murder case without a body," he said. "We will
>never really know what was destroyed." 
>
>The shredding was discovered in April by an agency
>supervisor who witnessed what appeared to be unauthorized
>destruction of documents. The I.N.S. office of internal
>audit, the Justice Department's inspector general and the
>United States attorney's office for Southern California
>conducted the investigation that led to this week's
>indictments. 
>
>Ms. Randall and Mr. Salazar were each charged with
>conspiracy and five counts of willfully destroying
>documents filed with the I.N.S. The conspiracy charge
>carries a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison.
>Each of the other counts can bring three years in prison. 
>
>Their subordinates were not charged because they were
>low-level workers acting on instructions, the government
>said. 
>
>After the shredding was discovered, the immigration service
>opened a hotline for people who suspected their paperwork
>had been destroyed. Agency officials helped petitioners
>reconstruct their files and gave applicants the benefit of
>the doubt if they could not replace the documents they had
>submitted, said Lori Haley, a spokeswoman for the I.N.S.'s
>western regional office. 
>
>She said the agency made an effort last year to publicize
>the problem and was confident that it had rebuilt most of
>the lost files. She also said that additional staff members
>had been hired at the center and that oversight had been
>tightened. 
>
>"Monitoring of the activities of the support services
>contractor has been enhanced at the service center," Ms.
>Haley said. "All materials to be shredded or destroyed are
>reviewed first by I.N.S. personnel to make sure that no
>unauthorized materials are destroyed." 
>
>Ms. Randall's lawyer, Joseph G. Cavallo, said today that he
>had not read the charges and would not comment. He said,
>however, that Ms. Randall would plead not guilty at her
>arraignment on Monday. Mr. Salazar's lawyer, Tom Brown, did
>not return calls seeking comment. 
>
>The four document processing centers are operated under a
>$325 million contract with JHM Research and Development of
>Maryland, which in turn subcontracts the operations to two
>other companies. John Macklin, president of JHM, was
>unavailable for comment. 
>
>Mr. Staples, the federal prosecutor, said the contractors
>were cooperating with the investigation and would not be
>charged unless more evidence against them was developed. 
>
>"If we had found criminal liability, we would have indicted
>the companies," he said.
>
>http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/31/national/31FILE.html?ex=1045031287&ei=1&en=3fa0ae0dca92d216
>
>
>
>HOW TO ADVERTISE
>---------------------------------
>For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters 
>or other creative advertising opportunities with The 
>New York Times on the Web, please contact
>onlinesales@xxxxxxxxxxx or visit our online media 
>kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo
>
>For general information about NYTimes.com, write to 
>help@xxxxxxxxxxx.  
>
>Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company
>-- This is the discussion@xxxxxxxxx list.  To unsubscribe,
>visit http://www.complete.org/cgi-bin/listargate-aclug.cgi
>
>
>  
>


-- This is the discussion@xxxxxxxxx list.  To unsubscribe,
visit http://www.complete.org/cgi-bin/listargate-aclug.cgi