INS blames antiquated network for terrorist visa snafus
The Immigration and Naturalization Service on Tuesday blamed a backlog of paperwork and antiquated processing system for a snafu that led the agency to send notices that it had upgraded visas for terrorists linked to the Sept. 11 attacks, reports the Washington Post.
Six months after Mohamed Atta and Marwan Alshehhi crashed jet liners into the World Trade Center, the INS sent notice a Florida flight school that it had approved the two men's visas for flight lessons.
The agency had no information to link Atta or Alshehhi to terrorist organizations when the applications were approved in July 2001, the INS said, blaming its "antiquated, inaccurate, untimely" and inefficient paper-based processing system.
The INS is in the process of switching to a computer-based system, which was first mandated by Congress as part of an immigration reform package in 1996. USA Today also reports this story.
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