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plus any visas not required for the first preference);

Third preference: members of the professions and scientists and artists of exceptional ability and their spouses and children (10 percent);

Fourth preference: married sons and daughters of United States citizens and their spouses and children (10 percent plus any visas not required for the first three preferences);

Fifth preference: brothers and sisters of United States citizens and their spouses and children (24 percent plus any visas not required for the first four preferences); and

Sixth preference: skilled and unskilled workers in occupations for which labor is in short supply in this country, and their spouses and children (10) percent);

This would enable all prospective immigrants to obtain visas based strictly on their priority date, firstcome, first-served, without consideration of their country of origin. Although the elimination of these numerical limitations would initially allow certain countries to obtain more than the 20,000 visas currently available because of their already extensive waiting lists, this system, as demonstrated in the appendix to this report, would allow all American citizens and residents an equal opportunity to be reunited with their close relatives abroad, whether they come from Mexico or Hong Kong or Ireland. Thus, the country of origin of intending immigrants and their United States relatives would no longer be considered in determining the length of the waiting period for visas.

Chapter 3

Service and Adjudications Functions of the Immigration and Naturalization Service

The Immigration and Naturalization Service has two major functions by law: first, to administer the immigration laws by assisting those who wish to immigrate or those who are already in the United States and wish to remain and, second, to enforce the immigration laws by preventing illegal migration into the United States and by expelling those who have entered and do not have a legal right to remain.

As part of its administrative and service responsibilities, INS provides information to the public about immigration benefits provided by law, accepts applications and petitions from those seeking to avail themselves of these benefits, and determines whether benefits will be granted or denied in each case. This chapter will discuss these functions, the service functions, of INS and will focus on the problems that currently exist in the public's encounters with INS, in the effect of the processing backlog, and in the adjudication of petitions submitted to INS. This chapter will also examine the conflicting missions of INS-service and enforcement-and the effect that role conflict has on its service function. Chapter six of this report will discuss INS enforcement responsi

In both its service and enforcement responsibilities, INS comes into contact repeatedly with minority communities and persons from other countries. INS service officers provide information daily to persons from many nations and process their applications for benefits, as well as help U.S. citizens of Hispanic, Asian and Pacific, and European origin to bring close relatives into the United States. INS enforcement officers have occasion to interrogate persons of various racial and ethnic backgrounds, U.S. citizens and aliens alike, and process persons from many countries for deportation. One study has noted that, in order to perform its duties more effectively and efficiently, and to reduce stereotyping and prejudice, a law enforcement agency should employ a significant number of minority-group employees. The President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, Task Force Report: The Police (1967), pp. 167, 174. Testimony presented before this Commission similarly suggests that the presence of a substantial number of minority employees on the INS work force can increase the Service's understanding of different minority groups

bilities and the problems arising out of many of its current enforcement practices.

Before discussing service and enforcement operations, however, it is appropriate to examine briefly the Service's employment profile.1

INS Employment Profile

Civil Rights Commission staff prepared an analysis and report of the overall employment picture at INS in 1978. The report was based on statistics and data provided by the Equal Employment Opportunity Branch, Personnel Division, of the INS Central Office, and reflected the most current employment figures available as of September 1978.2 The report analyzes the work force composition of INS at three major levels: agencywide, the Central Office, and the regional offices. The analysis of the work force was limited, however, to those jobs and positions within the General Schedule (GS) pay system3 and presents a profile of current INS employment practices; no attempt has been made to analyze statistics from previous years to determine the and their particular problems, as well as increase public confidence in the ability of INS to perform its duties responsibly and responsively. See later discussion on "Obtaining Information from INS" in this chapter.

2 U.S., Commission on Civil Rights, Staff Report, "The Immigration and Naturalization Service: An Employment Profile" (November 1978), p. 3 (hereafter cited as "Employment Profile."). The report in its entirety was introduced into the record of the Commission's Washington hearing on immigration. See U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, hearing, Washington, D.C., Nov. 14-15, 1978, vol. II: Exhibits, pp. 43-166.

The General Schedule (GS) pay system in the Federal Government basically applies to white-collar or professional level jobs. The other major Federal pay system, the Wage Board (WB), generally covers blue-collar or skilled craft occupations. Slightly over 11,100 persons, or nearly 96 percent, of the total INS work force were employed in the GS pay system. Ibid., pp. 4-5.

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