U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service officials are investigating allegations of bias and unreasonable delay in the Salt Lake City INS office.
Joseph Greene, district director for U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, announced the "full investigation" late Monday.People who have been denied visas and several area attorneys contend that examiners - or an examiner - discriminate on the basis of religion and homeland. The bias, they say, is particularly strong against members of the LDS faith. And they say that the Salt Lake office is slow in processing applications from people who want to work or reside in the United States.
The office handles about 5,000 cases a year.
"It's my and my district director's belief that if it's the public perception that something is wrong which warrants an investigation, we're going to get to the bottom of it," said temporary office director James Scofield. "If we see deviations from policy, we'll deal with it. If we fail the community either perceptually or in fact, we want to correct it."
Announcement of an investigation is a reversal. Two weeks ago the deputy district director, Michael Brady, said no formal investigation was planned, although the usual practice of reviewing specific cases that raised questions would continue.
The office, Brady said, is "far from being one of the worst. I disagree with statements that it's a major problem. I don't think it has any more problems than any other office. If things come to our attention, we will look into that, and we work very closely with the people over there."
The investigation - or "inspection," as Scofield prefers to call it - has caused some consternation in the office, he said. "It hasn't caused undue alarm in that they feel they're in trouble. It's alarm in that they feel they've lost the respect of the community. We have some really decent people working here, and they believe the work they're doing is for the community."
Brady said the office does not have a "backlog" of cases - some just take longer than others. Many times, he said, the delays are caused by other countries that must provide documentation. And there are "many things we can't - aren't allowed to - do before 60 days."
Whether interviews are conducted appropriately will be easy to check, Scofield said, because every interview is videotaped. If an application is denied, the video is kept. Videos of interviews that result in approval are eventually erased.
Bias is hard to track, Scofield said, because "examiners have a lot of flexibility. We pay them money and train them to be suspicious. That's a dilemma, too. Are they being too suspicious?
"Frankly, I think you'll find we probably do look at different nationalities differently. It's because of our experience with those nationalities."
Scofield said the State Department has "looked at countries and determined who is likely to use fraud" to obtain visas and likely not to return home when the visa expires. Individual examiners are supposed to be aware of those findings. Some examiners may have "hung on too tightly and carried points to infinity," he said.
"You should always remember that when we take a particular action we're trying to protect the community."
A preliminary report is expected in two or three weeks. If bias is found, the Office of the Inspector General will conduct its own investigation.