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教 育 專 題 深 入 報 導
═══════════════════════《2003/02/28》═════
*****【本 期 內 容】
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教育專題 ◎ Annual
Visa Lottery Comes Amid Fears Over Terrorism
◎ Security
美國與移民 進出起扞格 美國移民史新一章
◎ 補充1：美國移民局有多失靈？
◎ 時事明燈2：天真的自動離境政策
◎ 大娛樂
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Annual Visa Lottery Comes Amid Fears Over
Terrorism
Immigration: Millions vie for 50,000
permanent residency slots. Many in U.S. question whether it's wise for the
program to continue.
By JONATHAN PETERSON, TIMES STAFF WRITER
WASHINGTON -- The annual visa lottery--perhaps the strangest ritual in all of
U.S. immigration policy--will begin next month, sparking millions of entries
from foreigners who will buck long odds for a chance to start life anew in
America. Its very existence is a reminder that, even after the Sept. 11
attacks, the United States keeps its door open to newcomers more than do most
other nations, and that the dream of life here continues to stir people from
all over the world.
But since the terrorist attacks, the unusual
sweepstakes has been beset by heightened security fears. In just the last few
months, three lottery winners from the Middle East have gained notoriety for
crimes and allegations that go to the heart of America's anxieties in the war
against terrorism.
Ahmed Hannan and Karim Koubriti, indicted
Aug. 28 as members of an alleged terrorist "sleeper" cell in Michigan
planning attacks here and abroad, came to this country in 2000 after winning
the lottery in Morocco, according to State Department officials and court
records.
And in July, an Egyptian who became a legal
U.S. resident after his wife won the visa lottery went on a shooting rampage at
Los Angeles International Airport, killing two people.
The next visa lottery, scheduled to open for
entries on Oct. 7, "is simply not in the interest of our national
security," said Rep. George W. Gekas (R-Pa.), chairman of the House
subcommittee on immigration, pointing to the Michigan indictments to make his
case.
By all reckonings, it is an event of interest
around the world, a sweepstakes that has stirred riots in Sierra Leone and
stampedes in Cuba. But in the United States, despite Sept. 11, the lottery
remains a routine event, reflecting the official view that legal immigration
can be a positive force and that America benefits from the energy and
enterprise of its newest residents.
Congress enacted the first version of the
lottery in the 1980s when Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and other
legislators sought to broaden the stream of immigrants, which was dominated by
Latin Americans and Asians who were allowed entry either as political refugees
or because they were sponsored by close relatives or employers already in the
United States. Undocumented Irish immigrants in Kennedy's home state were an
early concern, and the first contests set aside winning slots for the Irish.
The current version of the lottery provides
up to 50,000 permanent residence visas each year to individuals lacking the
family or job sponsors that most legal immigrants rely on. Winners are chosen
in a computerized drawing. Preferences for the Irish have long since expired.
From 1998 to 2000, 46% of the winners came
from Europe, 22% from the Middle East and 22% from sub-Sahara Africa, according
to estimates by the Center for Immigration Studies, which seeks to limit
immigration.
In 2000, participants mailed 13 million
applications to the State Department. Last year, following the Sept. 11
attacks, the number slipped to 9.5 million. Entries this year must be received
between Oct. 7 and Nov. 6, and winners will be notified in 2003.
Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Los Angeles), who
championed the visa lottery in a simpler era of immigration policy, reflects
the shifting attitudes toward the lottery. In July, one of Berman's
constituents was shot to death by Hesham Mohamed Hadayet, a limousine driver
from Egypt, at the El Al Israel airlines ticket counter at LAX.
Berman said he continues to support
immigration for such goals as reuniting families, providing political asylum
and supplying qualified workers to American employers. But, alluding to the LAX
shootings, he said he worries that a lottery may pose "a certain
randomness and lack of institutional safeguards ... that maybe creates a higher
risk of this kind of thing happening."
"The visa lottery program, I have
greater questions about that now, whether it's a sensible policy," Berman
said.
Security Flaws Are Cited
Supporters maintain that the program
continues to fill a useful role for deserving immigrants and assert that the concerns
voiced by Berman underscore the need for providing more efficient security, not
for eliminating the lottery.
"Individuals who are otherwise eligible
under our laws should be allowed to immigrate to the United States,"
Kennedy said in a statement. Security risks, he added, are not the fault of the
lottery itself but rather "result from inadequate screening and the lack
of intelligence information shared among government agencies."
Others applaud the lottery's basic goal.
"It adds to the richness of the American experience by bringing different
peoples into the country," said Kevin Appleby, director of migration and
refugee policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "With the
proper security measures, we don't see why it should not continue."
Not everyone agrees. "It doesn't unite
families," asserted Steven A. Camarota, the Center for Immigration
Studies' research director. "It doesn't serve special business needs. What
is the point of it?"
He noted that some individuals who use the
lottery come from nations on the State Department's list of countries that
sponsor terrorism. Last year's winners included 1,297 from Sudan, 768 from
Iran, 529 from Cuba, 71 from Iraq, 62 from Syria, 61 from Libya and four from
North Korea .
Other observers, who may be far more
sympathetic to immigration, nonetheless argue that the value of diversity
should not outweigh the wishes of today's immigrants to be united more quickly
with family members from the old country.
"I think it's one of the stupidest ideas
ever created in immigration law ... ," said Carl Shusterman, an
immigration lawyer in Los Angeles.
"To me it's just like someone cutting in
line."
Still others question whether the very
strategy of reaching out to nations that supply few immigrants is fair to
countries such as Mexico, which are purposely excluded from the program.
◎Security 美國與移民 進出起扞格 美國移民史新一章
嚮往與不信任 矛盾相對
美國移民政策 矛盾相對
策劃、編譯■賴明芝
白宮正式向國會提出設立國土安全部法案
美國國土安全部 站穩腳步
導讀
自從911恐怖攻擊事件發生後，「美國本土安全」立即成為全美民眾擔心之事。究竟這些恐怖分子如何進入美國境內的呢？掌管外國人簽證發給事務的「移民歸化局」，立刻被觀察家拿著放大鏡加以檢視。而採用「抽籤」方式核准美國簽證的政策，立刻受到質疑。簽證，涉及外國人進入國家領土一事，如果發行對象可以用「樂透彩」選擇，未免太天真了些！
在一連串對移民局的批評出現後，要怎麼統合這些涉及國家安全事務的單位，成了布希政府的首要議題。2002年6月18日，白宮正式向國會提出國土安全部法案，希望能將這個新的單位拉高至內閣層次。布希在附給國會的一封信中強調，美國正面臨全球恐怖主義的威脅，「我們必須採取行動保護美國，防範尋求殺害無辜的恐怖分子。」
布希告訴國會：「新部門的任務將是預防美國境內的恐怖分子攻擊，減少美國易受恐怖主義攻擊的弱點，同時將也許會發生的攻擊損害減至最低限度，並且復甦。」
布希總統提議設立的國土安全部，將合併目前業務與美國本土安全有關政府單位，數目多達20幾個，自此，新單位將協調情報部門蒐集的資訊。國土安全部底下將有17萬名聯邦員工，估計第1年的預算將高達374億美元。
為了能夠獲得國會的支持，布希不只得說服民主黨籍議員，作為保守黨出身的總統，拓展聯邦政府的規模，布希得小心說服保守派人士。他甚至提出「compassion conservative」，他解釋他是個帶有情感的保守黨人士，這種修飾只是為了能夠避免一般人賦予保守一詞的壞印象。
被指派擔任這個新部門的芮吉指出，擬議設立的國土安全部將分為4大部門：邊界與運輸安全、急難管理準備與因應、化學生物輻射與核子反制措施、以及情報分析與基本設施保護。
2002年年底，美國參眾兩院表決通過這項法案，將把22個聯邦機構的全部或部分，合併為一個部門，以期加強國家防衛力量，對抗恐怖攻擊。希望這將使得有關單位收到的各種情報，能做最妥善的整合，防止今後再發生類似的恐怖攻擊。
由於共和與民主兩黨，對總統應對這個新機構享有多大的人事權，爭論不休，使得新議案延宕數月之久。
而合併到新部門底下的移民局，能否發揮功能，一改弊端，仍會受到外界嚴厲的觀察。
時事明燈1：移民局有多失靈？
911劫機犯 死後半年接獲美簽
美國移民局究竟有多不行，從「911劫機犯死了半年後，竟接獲美簽證通知」這個大笑話，就可以看出來。這件事不但說明美國移民政策的混亂，美國移民局竟然會允許兩個計畫周密的劫機分子進入美國，並且自由地在美國居留。
911事件中兩名劫機犯穆罕默德‧阿塔和馬爾萬‧阿勒謝希，是在2001年8月向美國移民與歸化局提出申請，將他們的遊客簽證換成學生簽證，以便他們參加飛行學校的學習。事實上，他們在2001年1月就完成了飛行課程，而移民局分別在2001年7月和8月批准了他們轉換簽證的申請。
結果，申請獲准後，學生本人只要接獲通知，就算是簽證轉換有效生成，但是發給學校的通知，卻需要等到工作人員完成所有的手續之後才會寄出。搞了老半天，悲劇都發生半年了，但是美國移民局竟然沒有人把阿塔的臭名當成一回事。移民局官員在2001年7月批准後，還把通知寄到劫機犯上過課的佛羅里達州飛行學校。
移民歸化局還曾發表聲明對簽證延遲寄達表示「遺憾」，並且將之歸咎於「過時」和「不正確的」處理系統。開玩笑，移民局有個已經設了5年，耗資650萬美元的「IDENT資料庫」，用以搜尋簽證申請人是否有犯罪背景。根據蜜雪兒˙麥金所寫的「入侵」（Invasion）一書，移民局內部員工私下透露，這套系統根本從上到下都少有人使用。連FBI探員連續通報移民局好幾次有關外籍人士犯罪紀錄，都不了了之。
每年，有數百萬人持旅遊簽證進入美國，並且逾期滯留。一些國會議員認為，美國需要這些新移民，因此這些逾期滯留者中，許多人最後得到特赦。但是國土安全為重的局勢下，已經有國會議員呼籲美國收緊有關政策，檢討移民局完全喪失作用的問題。
時事明燈2：天真的自動離境政策
殺人犯一再入境
誰能管管他啊！
除了「簽證樂透彩」（visa lottery），還有一個名詞可以看出美國移民政策上的紊亂。那就是，「自動離境」（voluntary departure）。
自動離境是指，外籍人士萬一沒有任何辦法繼續留在美國，那麼，被遞解的當事人應申請自動離境，以免「遞解出境」會發生的後遺症。當事人答應移民法官在限期內離開美國，有錢在美國生活並自行負擔費用。自動離境的資格是給沒有因為犯罪行為而遞解出境者，而且在過去5年居美生活中品格良好。
問題是，遲緩有如恐龍的移民局竟然數次批准一名來自墨西哥的連續殺人犯瑞森戴斯（the Angel Resendize Case），以自動離境的方式離開美國。事實上，瑞森戴斯在美國犯下攸關十幾條人命的謀殺案之前，就已經在1976至1996年之間，違反美國移民法律達25次之多。「非法入境→連續殺人，犯下罪行→自動離境→再次非法入境」，瑞森戴斯就是以這樣的模式「來去美國」。這樣危險的人物能夠自由進出美國，移民局脫不了干係。哪有一個把關的單位，會疏忽成這個樣子呢？
儘管移民局不斷強調，這是科技問題，查詢犯罪背景資料的「IDENT系統」不管用，但是，FBI探員多次要求移民局將瑞森戴斯的犯罪資料輸入「IDENT系統」未果，又是什麼原因呢？
「一旦雇用，終身錄用」（once hired, never fired）。現在，美國移民局官員給外界的印象就是如此。
◎大娛樂
移民局（Immigration and Naturalization Service）強迫改名篇
由於犯錯太多，美國新聞媒體乾脆給移民局起新的名字，但縮寫不變。
第3名：Incompetent and Negligent Service（無能又粗心局）
第2名：Information Not Sought（找不到資料）
第1名：Ignoring National Security（忽視國家安全）
第1名的改寫，真是有夠狠！