AT WAR
Justice Stonewalls
Why can't we find out if terror suspects became U.S. citizens?
BY SUSAN COLLINS
Monday, December 1, 2003 12:01 a.m. EST
Recently NBC News aired a report indicating that suspected terrorists had been granted American citizenship or permanent residency at the same time they were under investigation by the FBI for their involvement in terrorism. This well-researched piece reached the warranted and troubling conclusion that this occurred despite advance knowledge within the Department of Justice.
The NBC report revealed an alarming and dangerous lack of coordination between federal agencies. The NBC piece parallels credible allegations that first came to my attention in January.
As chairman of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, to follow up on these allegations, I have made repeated requests of the Justice Department for information that would allow my committee to assess this potentially serious threat to our national security. I have been persistent, but my patience has pretty much run out.
The allegations I received in January were these: In the course of investigating foreign-born individuals for terrorism-related offenses, the FBI learned that some of these individuals were in the process of applying for naturalization or permanent residency.
FBI agents requested permission to share that critical information with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Their FBI supervisors, however, refused those requests. My requests to the Justice Department for information that would define the size of this alleged hole in national security and of this possible gap in interagency cooperation have been refused repeatedly.
Here is a brief travelogue of my 10-month journey in the bureaucracy of the Department of Justice: On Jan. 21, shortly after these allegations came to my attention, I wrote to the FBI director, Robert Mueller, and asked that he provide the committee with the names, dates of birth, INS registration numbers and start dates of investigations of all persons who have been the subjects of terrorism investigations from Sept. 10, 1991, through Sept. 10, 2001, in the 15 largest FBI field offices. I asked to have this information delivered to my office by Feb. 4.
Well, I received no response at all until Feb. 28, when I received a reply from the Justice Department categorically denying my request. The primary reason cited was that the department had a longstanding policy of not providing Congress with information about people who have been investigated but not prosecuted.
Among the other supporting reasons were the separation of powers and--I am not making this up--a concern that providing Congress with information that could help it understand and remedy a situation so potentially damaging to our nation's security could, and I quote, "gravely damage the nation's security."
On May 21, I submitted another much narrower request proposing that the Justice Department would conduct its own review. The length of the review would be reduced from a decade to five years, and the scope would be reduced from 15 field offices to just five. By this time, the INS had been moved from the Department of Justice to the new Department of Homeland Security. It had been renamed the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. I suggested the FBI provide the results of its internal review to the BCIS so it could determine who had been granted citizenship or permanent residency while they were being investigated for terrorism. After months of negotiations between my staff and the department's staff, I believed I had finally come up with a solution that addressed all of the department's concerns.
On July 3 I received a reply. Much to my astonishment, the answer once again was no. Two new concerns were raised: First, when the FBI and the INS were part of the same overall Department of Justice, they could share information for this purpose legally; although, as we well know, they didn't. Now that they are in two different departments, the Justice Department claims the Privacy Act prevents the sharing of this critical information. The second reason was that the FBI simply did not have the time or resources to review its own files.
At this point some of my Senate colleagues may be asking themselves a few questions. First, hasn't the Justice Department many times in the past provided Congress with information such as interview summaries and documentary evidence related to individuals who have been investigated but not prosecuted? Second, does this refute the Justice Department's argument about a supposedly sacrosanct longstanding policy? Would such a policy, if it existed and were adhered to as strictly as the Justice Department now asserts, exempt the Justice Department from effective congressional oversight? The answer to these questions is obvious.
Although the Justice Department would not review its own files to discover the extent of this problem and to document whether terrorists had been granted citizenship or permanent residency, its officials have indicated in writing to me that this likely occurred. In a July 3 letter, the department says:
We appreciate the Committee's interest in the question of whether individuals were naturalized or received permanent residence status while they were subjects of foreign counterintelligence investigations and, in fact, we have indicated in conversations with Committee staff our belief that this likely occurred prior to September 11, 2001. We do not have data to support this view, but based upon our knowledge of how Bureau and then-Immigration and Naturalization Services systems interfaced, we do not dispute the premise.
In other words, suspected terrorists most likely received citizenship or permanent residency in the country they swore to destroy because the FBI and the INS did not talk to each other.
During my negotiations with the Department of Justice, I had suggested the Privacy Act concern the department raised could be dealt with if the FBI passed the sealed findings of their review through my committee, which then could, in turn, pass the findings along to the BCIS. That wouldn't work, Justice said, because it would violate--you got it--their longstanding policy against providing information to Congress about investigations that did not result in prosecution.
If you think we have been driving around in circles, you are right. The Justice Department refuses to provide my oversight committee with information because of a "longstanding policy.'' We suggest a way around that longstanding policy, and the department cites the Privacy Act. We suggest a way to avoid the Privacy Act concerns, and we find ourselves back to the longstanding policy.
This is simply unacceptable. We know some terrorists and supporters of terrorism seek out the protective guise of American citizenship. We know a lack of coordination between the relevant agencies allowed this unacceptable situation to occur. What we don't know is how many times it has happened, how broad this problem is, how many people are involved, and, most important of all, what has been done to stop it.
Ms. Collins, a Republican, is a U.S. senator from Maine. This is adapted from a speech she delivered on the Senate floor last Tuesday. |
