nationalreviewonline.com
Michelle Malkin
According to several Immigration and Naturalization Service sources, the assistant district director for INS investigations in New York City, Dan Molerio, and two FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) officials were placed on administrative leave late last week in the wake of yet another post-9/11 INS scandal.
My sources close to the investigation say that Molerio and two JTTF officials, Rich Coraggio and Robin McWilliams, were suspended last Thursday when it was discovered that INS had recently granted American citizenship to a known terrorist under investigation by the JTTF.
Sources say the unidentified Middle Eastern male — now a fellow American — appears on terrorist watch lists and is a member of the Hezbollah terrorist organization
Despite numerous calls from adjudicators in Newark, N.J., handling the alleged terrorist's naturalization case, the FBI and Molerio's office reportedly did not respond to requests to turn over the individual's "alien file." The A-file includes biographical and status information about the alien, such as name, date of birth, alien number, country of birth, dates of INS actions, and other investigative data. It is unclear why Molerio and the JTTF did not turn over the file, or why Molerio neglected to order the adjudications branch in Newark to put the naturalization process for the purported Hezbollah member on hold while the FBI investigated him. (Calls to the INS district investigations office in New York City seeking comment were not returned.)
Why did INS adjudicators in Newark proceed with the naturalization process without viewing the alleged terrorist's file? According to INS sources in both Newark and New York City, it's standard operating procedure. Adjudicators remain under intense pressure to meet naturalization "quotas." Job-performance ratings and cash bonuses are based on the number of naturalization approvals processed by INS employees.
Posted by Suzanne at November 15, 2002