The error follows a year in which Congress raised temporarily the annual limit on H-1B visas from 65,000. The increase expires in 2001.

INS officials blamed the foul-up on a computer malfunction and said the agency will investigate it. Congressional leaders have cited the most recent blunder as proof Congress must overhaul the agency. House Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) said it is the "latest self-inflicted wound by the agency's inept management."

Smith and Representatives Hal Rogers (R-KY) and Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) have introduced legislation to make the INS more efficient and improve immigration enforcement. Their bill, H.R. 2528, would split the INS into two separate bureaus, one for enforcing immigration laws and another for adjudicating immigration claims.

(Washington Times, 10-13-99)

Fewer immigrants becoming citizens

A new Census Bureau study has found fewer immigrants to the United States are becoming naturalized citizens, indicating a waning desire to fully assimilate into American culture.

The number of immigrants seeking citizenship is the lowest it has been this century and has dropped nearly 35 percent in the last three decades alone. In 1970, 64 percent of the immigrants to the United States became naturalized citizens, compared to 35 percent today.

Experts believe the decline is due in part to the reluctance of many immigrants to integrate into American society.

The census study did not count the estimated five million illegal aliens currently living in the United States.

(Washington Post, 10-15-99)

EEOC: We will protect illegal aliens The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has decided to safeguard to the fullest extent possible illegal aliens working in the United States. Previously, the EEOC generally limited its activities for the unlawful workers. Now, according to the Chicago Tribune, the EEOC will "seek all protections and legal remedies" for illegal aliens in our nation's workforce. The agency may now intercede for illegal aliens to secure back pay, get fired workers reinstated, and ask the courts to order employers to pay damages to and attorney's fees for illegal aliens. Thus, the EEOC will bring to bear the power of the federal government and judicial system to help those who have willingly and knowingly broken our nation's immigration laws. Dan Stein, FAIR's executive director, said the EEOC's move "totally undermines the principles of U.S. immigration law by throwing out illegal residents with one hand and encouraging their employment with the other." According to EEOC chair Ida Castro, the policy change resulted from pressure from immigrant groups bent on gaining sanction for the criminal workers. (Chicago Tribune, 10-26-99)