From: Stephen D. Williams (sdw@insta.com)
Date: Tue Feb 29 2000 - 18:38:29 PST
So you have India apparently bursting with IT talent, a significant segment of
which is very interested in getting into the US to work directly on great
projects (for relatively great money).
You have the INS with an apparently stone age (ok, file cabinet age) work flow
system holding up said interested parties.
Seems like a good open-source or otherwise free project to solve the INS
problem. Of course it's a great project that should be gov. funded, but the
value of having it in place in this circumstance would seem to outweigh any
delay while Congress argued about it's funding.
Just press to get a full dump on the process, data dictionary, and other
details, build it, present a working system with a sample dataset and dare them
to find a reason not to use it to get things up to speed. Congress would not
be amused by excuses at this point.
Of course you will need to get the current files in electronic form, but this
kind of stuff has been done for years by dualed off-shore typist. (Lexis-Nexis
for instance used this method on ALL historical court records in all 50
states.)
Open-source government infrastructure. Sounds like an interesting project.
Ok, it has nightmarish proportions and problems, but an interesting prospect
nontheless.
sdw
Joachim Feise wrote:
> And, of course, Linus Torvalds, one of the more famous Greencard applicants,
> was there. And I heard the press was all over him.
>
> -Joe
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: SHUSTERMAN'S IMMIGRATION UPDATE (Special Alert)
> Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 20:41:22 -0800
> From: Carl@shusterman.com
> Reply-To: Carl@shusterman.com
> To: visalaw@shusterman.com
>
> CONGRESS HOLDS HEARING REGARDING INS DELAYS
>
> On February 25, 2000, Members of Congress Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Sam Farr
> (D-CA) held a congressional field hearing in San Jose, California regarding
> chronic delays and mismanagement by the INS. Among those who testified
> were members of Congress, officials from high-tech employers including
> Intel and Sun Microsystems, representatives from the American Immigration
> Lawyers Association and other advocacy organizations, and members of the
> public.
>
> The result was a litany of complaints which included, in the words of the
> press release "long lines, lost files and poor service", coupled with
> recommendations for improvements.
>
> Representative Lofgren stated that
>
> "We have met on a regular basis with Commissioner Doris Meissner to air our
> frustrations and to find some fair and expeditious way to end this human
> tragedy. Each of us, individually and jointly, has received reassurances
> and promises from INS that things were getting better and soon. But they
> haven't. Instead, they've gotten progressively worse in the five years I've
> been working on this problem. I am working hard at being patient but my
> patience has gone unrewarded and now my patience is exhausted. I'm irate
> about INS's seeming indifference toward our constituents, our staffs, and
> even ourselves..."
>
> "...In an era when FedEx can tell you on-line precisely where your package
> is, why can't the INS office tell you anything about the status of an
> application pending with INS for years?"
>
> "...In an era when you can secure a home loan and obligate yourself on the
> World Wide Web for hundreds of thousands of dollars without standing in
> line, why is it that the best you can do at an INS website is to download
> some form so you can fill it out by hand, stand in line in the rain, and
> wait half a decade for an answer?"
>
> "...I know that the thousands of employees who work for the INS are
> frustrated and upset, just as are the people here today. If we can create a
> system where the work can get done efficiently, everyone will be better
> off. Our community, our economy, our families and those who are employed in
> this troubled agency."
>
> Read the testimony of all the witnesses at this important hearing at
>
> http://shusterman.com/lofgren-pr.html
>
> and send your stories, comments and suggestions for improvements to
> Congresswoman Lofgren at
>
> zoe@lofgren.house.gov
>
> Carl Shusterman
> February 27, 2000
-- Insta.com - Revolutionary E-Business Communication sdw@insta.com Stephen D. Williams Senior Consultant/Architect http://sdw.st 43392 Wayside Cir,Ashburn,VA 20147-4622 703-724-0118W 703-995-0407Fax Jan2000
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