Letter to Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Tom Ridge

November 18, 2003

The Honorable Tom Ridge
Secretary
Department of Homeland Security
3801 Nebraska Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20528

Dear Secretary Ridge:

The purpose of this letter is to inquire and express serious concern over an incident in which a suspected terrorist under investigation was permitted to become a naturalized U.S. citizen. This is all the more alarming because the suspected terrorist obtained citizenship after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

The facts outlined in this letter are based on an Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) report entitled, "Review of the Circumstances Surrounding the Naturalization of an Alien Known to be an Associate of a Terrorist Organization: Report Number 03-02." This report was provided to me by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after I requested it in writing on June 20, 2003.

The most immediate concern - even before determining how and why this happened and who is responsible - is locating this suspected terrorist and ensuring he does not pose an imminent threat to national security or public safety. The report does not address that issue. I trust that the DHS or other agencies have taken steps to locate this suspected terrorist and ensure he does not pose an immediate danger. I would appreciate your assurance on this point as soon as possible.

I realize this debacle did not happen on your watch. The INS discovered in November of 2002 that the suspected terrorist had recently obtained citizenship, which was before the INS was absorbed into the Department of Homeland Security. Nevertheless, the American public expected the government to fulfill the promises made by yourself and other officials after the attacks of September 11, 2001, including increasing security of our borders and immigration procedures, and making national security an overriding priority. You inherited the agency, culture and personnel involved in this mistake, and you are responsible for ensuring this mistake is not recurring and that those involved are held accountable. I am sure you are just as disappointed and surprised as I am about the details of this incident. I hope, and intend to ensure, that the Department has taken and is taking the appropriate steps to ensure this mishap does not happen again, to hold the responsible officials accountable, and to review past incidents to determine if other suspected terrorists took advantage of similar mistakes.

Citizenship is the ultimate goal for the thousands of well-meaning immigrants who come to this country for freedom, opportunity, and a better life. A suspected terrorist obtaining citizenship under our noses is an embarrassment for the government and belittles the accomplishment of legitimate immigrants, in addition to posing a serious threat to our nation.

This suspected terrorist obtained citizenship while under federal investigation because:

Several INS officials committed errors and used poor judgment;

- The INS and FBI did not use the correct watch lists and did not use watch lists in the right manner; and

- The INS lacked consistent and uniform training and procedures.

Human Error, Poor Judgment

The report states that an INS agent assigned to a Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in New York knew the suspected terrorist was under investigation and knew he was applying for citizenship. Yet for some reason, this agent did not notify anyone else at INS, as required. When the agent was later asked why she did not notify anyone else at INS, she replied that it was not her case so she was not responsible for making the notification. This kind of nonchalant "not my job, not my problem" attitude is not only contrary to the mission of the INS and the federal government, but it puts national security and public safety at risk. The report states that if this agent had notified others at the INS, the naturalization would have been prevented.

A federal agent from another agency assigned to the JTTF claimed he sent a memo to the FBI requesting that officials there notify the INS and request that the citizenship application be denied. The memo apparently was forwarded to INS headquarters, but it disappeared into a bureaucratic blackhole as the INS has no record of receiving such a memo.

Watch List Problems

When it came to using watch lists to determine if this applicant was a suspected terrorist, Murphy's Law ruled: what could go wrong, did go wrong.

INS officials ignored a major red flag about the suspected terrorist in one of the watch list databases, the National Automated Inspector Lookout System (NAILS). INS officials also incorrectly used a second watch list database - Interagency Border Inspection System (IBIS). Moreover, the entire Newark District INS office at that time was using the same incorrect methods to search IBIS for lookouts about citizenship applicants. This raises the alarming possibility that potential terrorist links of an unknown number of successful applicants for citizenship went undetected, allowing more suspected terrorists to obtain citizenship.

While the following mistake is not the responsibility of the INS, it is worth noting that the FBI also erred in conducting a name check on the applicant in its own database. A more thorough database search at the FBI would have shown the applicant had potential links to terrorists. I am inquiring about this matter to FBI Director Robert Mueller.
Problems with Procedures and Training

The report determined that INS officials in the Newark District routinely presume no response from the FBI is the "all-clear" signal, and they override the computer to allow the applicant to proceed with the citizenship process, as they did in this case.

Also, the INS could not get the suspected terrorist's original file to the Newark District office where his citizenship application was being processed, despite several requests. The INS official who had the file was an agent assigned to the JTTF. This problem of the "left hand" not knowing what the "right hand" is doing, and "not knowing what we know,"- especially in the area of basic records management - was supposed to be fixed after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Overall, this report paints a picture of blissfully ignorant keystone cops groping in the dark while allowing a suspected terrorist to assimilate into our country by obtaining the golden prize of citizenship. This is not the model of alertness, efficiency and protection the INS should have lived up to, and it certainly is contrary to the mission of your Department.

Secretary Ridge, I appreciate the enormity and difficulty of your job in protecting our nation. You inherited many problems, and I know you and others are working diligently to fix them. I hope your response reassures the American public that terrorists are not roaming around with citizenship cards in their wallets as they plot their next attack.

I submitted questions about this report and several others to your Department, and specifically to Under Secretary Asa Hutchinson, for the record of the July 23, 2003 Judiciary Committee "Oversight Hearing: Law Enforcement and Terrorism." I have not yet received a response, and I would appreciate getting one soon.

In the meantime, I ask that the Department and other relevant agencies put the highest priority into locating this suspected terrorist and ensuring he is not a threat to public safety. The very next task is to make sure the systemic flaws that allowed this to happen are fixed. Specifically, the Department needs to make sure its officials are using the correct watch lists and using them correctly. Also, the report makes clear that records management needs to be improved. After that, the Department needs to conduct a review of its records - specifically, already processed citizenship applications - to make sure other suspected terrorists did not take advantage of the loopholes described in this report. If they did, the Department and other agencies must immediately locate these individuals and ensure they do not pose an imminent threat. Last, you need to make sure the officials responsible for errors in judgment are held accountable, if they have not been already. Also, the report mentions "a member" of the JTTF who sent the memo to the FBI urging officials there to ask the INS to deny the application of the suspected terrorist. Please identity what agency that person worked for at the time.

I would appreciate a reply in writing detailing these tasks and responding to the questions set forth in this letter by December 20, 2003. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Department officials should contact John Drake of my staff, at (202) 224-4515, if there are questions.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Grassley
United States Senator