*EPF418 04/11/2002
Congressional Report: House Panel Votes to Break Up Immigration Service
(INS would be divided into bureaus for services and enforcement) (160)

HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE VOTES TO DIVIDE THE INS INTO TWO SERVICES

By a 32-2 vote, the House Judiciary Committee voted late April 10 to divide the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) into two separate bureaus, one for enforcement and another for citizenship services.

After being criticized for years for weak enforcement and long delays in processing applications, the INS came under intense scrutiny in March when it mistakenly sent to a Florida flight school student visa approvals for two of the hijackers who died September 11.

Representative James Sensenbrenner (Republican-Wisconsin) advocated the INS split to pull the service out of "a deep quagmire."

The bureaus would remain a part of the Justice Department.

The bill to divide the INS was expected to come to the floor of the House of Representatives in about two weeks.

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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