IN THE NEWS - INS Re-Organization

IN THE NEWS
–
March 23, 2002: INS Re-Organization

By Caty Weaver¹

This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, IN THE NEWS.

President Bush is considering ways to re-organize the agency that enforces laws about foreigners coming into the
United States. The agency is the Immigration and Naturalization Service known as the I-N-S. It is part of the
Justice Department.

One proposal reportedly calls for the I-N-S to join with the United States Customs Agency, which is part of the
Treasury² Department. The Justice Department would control the new agency. Such a move would require the
approval of Congress, which already is considering several bills to re-organize the I-N-S.

The purpose of the re-organization would be to establish more control over who enters the United States. Both
the I-N-S and the Customs Agency work to protect American borders.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service is responsible for enforcing laws connected to the admission of
foreigners into the United States. That is the Immigration part of the agency. The I-N-S also deals with requests
from foreigners for United States citizenship³. That is the Naturalization part of I-N-S. Both supporters and critics
say these responsibilites of the I-N-S are difficult to balance. It works to help immigrants enter and stay in the
country. And it works to keep out people who are trying to enter the country illegally or who might be a danger.

The I-N-S has more than thirty thousand employees. They work at about one-hundred offices throughout the
world or at border patrol stations.

I-N-S workers supervise the more than three hundred land, sea and airports of entry in the United States. They
carry out hundreds of millions of inspections⁴ of individuals arriving at these ports each year.

The I-N-S Border Patrol also guards thousands of kilometers of border between the United States, Mexico and
Canada. Each year I-N-S agents arrest hundreds of thousands of people trying to enter the United States illegally.

Other I-N-S employees deal with requests from foreigners seeking immigration services. The United States
receives millions of such requests every year.

There has been growing criticism of the I-N-S since the terrorist attacks against the United States. Four of the
September eleventh hijackers were in the country illegally. Critics also say the I-N-S does not closely supervise
the activities of hundreds of thousands of foreign students in the United States.

Tom Ridge⁵ is the Director of Homeland Security for the United States. He argues that border control issues
involve too many agencies including the Coast Guard and the Transportation Department. He says the agencies
do not necessarily communicate with each other.

Mister Ridge and other supporters of a re -organization plan say it will increase government control of who enters
the country and help prevent terrorism. They also say it will save money.

This VOA Special English program, IN THE NEWS, was written by Caty Weaver. This is Steve Ember.

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1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

3 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

4 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。