Beleaguered INS, late on paying bills, faces latest woe -- repossession Officials blame delays on overhaul of system

By Joe Cantlupe COPLEY NEWS SERVICE

July 10, 2000

WASHINGTON -- Pagers didn't beep. Cellular phones didn't work. Water service was shut off. And, in San Diego, a Border Patrol van simply vanished one afternoon from the chaparral of Otay Mesa. It had been repossessed by the leasing agency.

Since the beginning of the year, the $4.5 billion Immigration and Naturalization Service hasn't been paying its bills on time. The result: Vendors have turned off service or taken possession -- at least temporarily -- of some property, INS officials said.

INS officials blame the bill-paying fiasco on delays in implementing a massive reorganization of its financial operating system. They are working to resolve the problems, they said.

The bill-paying troubles are the latest glitches plaguing the beleaguered agency as it slowly upgrades an antiquated data processing system that is crucial to everything from processing citizenship applications to identifying undocumented workers.

http://www.uniontrib.com/news/uniontrib/mon/news/news_1n10repo.html

-- K (infosurf@yahoo.com), July 10, 2000