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Return to Article: Immigration services bureau loses thousands of records

• 51921
  

  My immediate thought is that this was intentional because the government doesn't seem too concerned about performing the functions of government. Rather, they seem to be just agents for the multinational corporations.

  The war on terror is a fraud. It is more like a war of terror - against We The People.

  Vicky Davis Posted June 9, 2008 12:15 AM
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  Problem with this data base system its all used on Americans ...good and bad . Talk about Big Brother !!! you have no real information on people from other countries because we don't know who they are to begin with and you aren't going to know , so whos left ? Americans are in the data base thats all !!!

  Ruth Slater Posted June 8, 2008 7:03 PM
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  This is nothing new. Files and other critical paperwork have always gone missing except when they're connected to another insulting giveaway program which ultimately allows criminal aliens and general-purpose dirt bags to get in. In the case of those aliens who did everything by the book, who are of solid character, and would become productive citizens, they get hosed. I've always proposed that one effective way to curb the amount of files and paper is to just deny those we don't want and wouldn't qualify in the first place and send them packing. No application, no paperwork. As far as transitioning most paper to electronic files, I agree with the retired Customs Inspector yet, as I should point out, some of their legacy reporting systems are in the Dark Ages still. Some of them still operate on DOS-based systems which are older than dirt. The whole electronic filing and reporting system is in dire need of an overhaul.

  GovExec.com reader Posted December 10, 2006 6:53 AM
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  Wonder if there is any connection to the Schofield case? Just wondering...

  GovExec.com reader Posted December 4, 2006 11:14 AM
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  What happened to the brave new world, supposedly invented by Al Gore of the Internet? With proper backup systems, much of the redundant paper can eventually be eliminated. When I worked in Customs, we had our share of it, but some was eventually transferred to the mainframe. Why is the ex-INS trapped in the l8th century?

  GovExec.com reader Posted December 2, 2006 10:13 AM
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  There is no excuse for this kind of inefficiency; relevant managers should be fired or demoted depending on the level of responsibility.

  GovExec.com reader Posted December 1, 2006 11:20 AM
• 19871
  

  The fact that documents are lost or misplaced should not surprise too many, since poor document control has been an endemic problem, government-wide, for decades. What is deplorable, however, is that despite the festering of major, diverse and numerous problems throughout the government, our "honorable" elected officials don't seem to either recognize the root of the problem or be willing to start fixing it. In the meantime, the country is sinking further into general disrepair. The solution is rather simple, but until such time that supervisors and managers are truly held responsible for failure to perform their duties, by way of commensurate adverse consequences, nothing will change. The sad part is that too many folks will accept responsibility when there is no accountability attached to their ignorance or failures to perform their assigned duties.

  Jurgis (George) Paliulionis Posted November 30, 2006 7:45 PM
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  Hundreds of thousands of criminals stream across our southern border every year and are referred to as "undocumented workers" by Mr. Bush, so as to avoid looking like he is shirking his sworn duties. There is no telling how many of those people are hardened criminals or flat out terrorists. Why does Mr. Bush refuse to take tangible and real action to secure the border with Mexico? Sending Guard units to assist the Border Patrol by changing tires and such hardly helps. Say, you don't suppose it's the same reason Mr. Bush let his family's long-time friends, the Bin Laden's, fly out of the country when all civilian air transport had been grounded before they could be interviewed by the FBI?

  Cracked & Wired Posted November 30, 2006 2:34 PM
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  Are GS federal employees, or contractors, performing this job?

  Patrici Posted November 30, 2006 1:09 PM
• 19863
  

  Such carelessness! Could the loss of this important information have been deliberate? Do the CIS personnel not know the importance of retaining this information? There are no acceptable excuses for the personnel or managers responsible for the loss of this information. This is non-performance and termination action should be taken immediately.

  We do not need criminal immigrants; these are undesirables and must not be allowed to become citizens. The citizenship must be delayed until the information is documented and retained.

  GovExec.com reader Posted November 30, 2006 11:43 AM
• 19851
  

  The more things change the more they stay the same.

  Twenty years ago I worked in New York City at the INS office in a clerkship for the trial attorneys handling those A-files. In the New York office the file cabinets were bulging with files, the files were all over the floor and it was probable we could not find a file for the deportation or asylum hearing.

  The files were a mess 20 years ago -- there was no sign-out and no electronic or paper tracking of files. There was no way to locate anything.

  And 20 years later they are missing thousands and thousands of files.

  Why am I not surprised?

  GovExec.com reader Posted November 30, 2006 6:59 AM