Tucson Region

New border agencies, same woes

For two years, the mantra at the Department of Homeland Security has been "one team, one fight." But since its inception, the same management problems that plagued the previous federal immigration and border enforcement efforts have resurfaced in Homeland Security's two immigration agencies. Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement haven't been sharing information on investigations, and both agencies are suffering as a result, said Richard Stana, director of homeland-security and justice issues for the Government Accountability Office. The office is the investigative arm of Congress. Stana testified Thursday before the House Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, border security and claims. For Arizona, the reported problems mean that the two top immigration agencies working here aren't cooperating, there's little interior enforcement and a too-frequent change in leadership. Although better cooperation and communication were the goals of the reorganized Immigration and Naturalization Service, the sharing of data and cooperation on investigations is still a problem, Stana said. Last year for example, Immigration and Customs Enforcement tried to work a cross-border sting in which it wanted a drug smuggler to cross into the United States, and then arrest the higher-end drug trafficker to whom the courier was to have led them. But the agency didn't notify the Border Patrol, which ended up stopping the smuggler and ruining the sting, Stana said. Similar communications mix-ups have occurred more than once, in Arizona and Texas, Stana said. "These problems need to be fixed to make the agency more effective and not waste scarce resources," he said. The communications problems grew so bad at the Immigration and Naturalization Service that shortly before it was disbanded, the agency approved visas for Mohammad Atta and Marvan al Shehhi, the two hijackers who flew planes into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 - six months after the attack. Frequent turnover in top leadership posts is also a problem for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Stana said. In a little over two years, Homeland Security has had two secretaries, three deputy secretaries and a slew of other high-level replacements, he told the House subcommittee. In Arizona, the agency is now on its fifth special agent in charge of the state, said spokesman Russell Ahr. In the latest change last month, Roberto Medina was assigned as the interim special agent in charge of Arizona. He is expected to be replaced at some point when the agency names a permanent replacement, Ahr said. A third problem Stana noted was the disproportionate number of agents working along the border compared with interior enforcement. "Under the INS, the ratio was 6-to-1," he said. "It's about the same now. "You need to have a more balanced effort or it's going to put more of a strain on your border resources," he said.