INS: Management Problems and Program Issues

GAO discussed the management and program-related problems that confront the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). GAO noted that: (1) INS needs a strategic management process that identifies priorities, aids planning, improves communications and policy setting, and establishes accountability systems; (2) INS efforts to address service delivery problems have been insufficient; (3) INS lacks adequate controls over expenditures and revenues and agencywide priorities; (4) INS managers and field offices do not have adequate, reliable, and timely information regarding aliens to effectively carry out their missions; (5) INS leadership has allowed the organizational structure to become decentralized without adequate controls; (6) while it carries out its mission, INS needs to continue to address management problems including stemming the flow of illegal aliens, deciding which aliens to detain, identifying and removing illegal and criminal aliens, enforcing employment regulations, and processing asylum requests; and (7) although INS is developing plans to address its management problems, Congress needs to continue its oversight of INS to ensure that it is making timely and measurable progress toward management improvements.