‘Immigration in dire need of improvements’

Micromanagement by the Attorney General’s Office and the Division of Immigration’s lack of control over related offices are seen as major factors contributing to the inefficient processing of alien permits.

The Transition Committee, which assessed the division before Fitial administration took office, noted that Immigration was in dire need of improvement in such areas as work assignments, staffing, facilities, and resources.

“The management style of ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ is prevalent in all levels of management connected to the Division of Immigration. This style leads to insufficient staffing, backlogs, disruptive processing, and it negatively affects morale. Inconsistent application of employee policies and processing authorities and procedures negatively affect employee morale. Micromanagement by the AGO and its staff members has been the prevailing mode of operation,” read a portion of the transition report on Immigration.

According to the committee, AGO and Immigration officials and even regular staff members have been allowed to make exceptions or otherwise provide expedited consideration for alien entries.

The removal of four essential offices from the Immigration chief’s control has also led to inefficiency. These are the Labor and Immigration Identification and Document System, U.S. Passport Office, investigation unit, and detention unit.

Currently, Immigration does not have an investigative branch. Alien status and fraud violations are left for the Attorney General’s Investigative Unit to prosecute. However, the AGIU is also swamped by non-alien criminal cases, lower grade enforcement duties and other special assignments, leaving immigration cases insufficiently addressed.

LIIDS, which manages a database containing alien information, is under the Governor’s Office. So is the U.S. Passport Office.

The Immigration Detention Unit has been integrated into the Department of Corrections.

The Transition Committee said these four offices should be managed by the Immigration chief.

Furthermore, the committee noted that the division’s facilities were substandard and the offices lacked order.

The San Antonio office is located in a partially finished building that also houses the Department of Labor, the Saipan Mayor’s Office and various businesses, including poker rooms, banks, immigration processing businesses, a community health clinic, boutiques, a money transmittal company, and a pawnshop.