Unwilling to wait for promised Bush administration reform, the US House of Representatives has voted to split in two the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS), widely seen as deeply incompetent.
The Senate will take up similar legislation next week, while the White House has pledged to work with Congress on the bill, accepting its central thrust.
The House bill divides the bureau into two separate, independent offices, one for immigration services such as handling citizenship applications, the other for enforcement of controls, both under a new associate attorney general.
The 405-9 vote reflected the deep disenchantment with the organisation, particularly over events surrounding September 11th when all 19 hijackers, all foreign nationals, appeared to have entered the country legally on temporary visas. Two were in violation of their visas. Then in March an INS contractor sent two of the dead men visa extensions allowing them to continue their flight studies - the final straw for Congress. The 37,000-strong service with an annual budget of $6.2 billion is coming down with legendary backlogs of paperwork.
"It is time to separate fully our services to legal immigrants who helped build America, from our enforcement against illegal aliens who violate the law," the Attorney General, Mr John Ashcroft, told reporters.
The INS "carries out neither of its crucial missions effectively, enforcing our immigration laws or providing services to immigrants," Mr James Sensenbrenner (Republican), the sponsor of the house legislation, said.
