OTHER MATTERS

The purpose of this section is to bring to the attention of INS management, other matters that we noted during the audit. These matters are not part of the audit report's Findings and Recommendations section because they do not directly relate to WAM or are of limited materiality. Thus, no INS response is necessary to these matters as this section is for informational purposes only.

Miscellaneous WAM Labeling and Programming

We reported to INS that a portion of the air POE output report was incorrectly labeled on the first page for the category of other-than-full-time inspectors (OTFPs). The message on the output report indicated "OTFP II's added by shift formula." However, the message should state "OTFP II's added by total hours." This labeling error has since been corrected in Version 3.2.

In the output report, we found incorrect labeling of the data field entitled "Number of PMFA II's assigned to POE." The labeling should be "Number of PMFA II's Authorized to POE." The data in this field comes from the Authorized Staff by Class input screen. That data is the number of Immigration Inspectors and the Special Operations Inspectors that are "authorized" at the port and includes unfilled vacancies that exist. In the POMS/WAM user manual, the explanation for the data field "authorized staff" indicates: "This screen collects only the authorized staffing at your POE, not the actual staff you may have working at your port," {underlining added}. Without correction, the "Assigned to POE" labeling might confuse the reader when the data is actually those "authorized" at the port.

Output reports do not display the inspection growth percentages and which inspection processing times (national or local POE) were used. Because growth percentages and inspection processing times alter the projections of the number of additional inspectors needed in total and on an hourly basis, displaying the variables allows INS to realize the impact of the variables selected.

Federal Inspection Service at Air POEs

A 45-minute inspection standard for arriving air passengers was used in WAM as a passenger facilitation target.⁷   The 45-minute standard is used along with the workload, the standard inspection processing times, and shift data to project the number of additional inspectors needed at ports of entry. INS believes that the 45-minute standard in the Immigration and Nationality Act, Section 286 (g), [8 U.S.C. 1356] applies only to INS. However, a 1991 House of Representatives report, Number 102-106, indicated that INS and the other federal agencies in the Federal Inspection Service should collectively use the 45-minute inspection time limit, not just INS itself. The agencies in the Federal Inspection Service include INS, the U.S. Customs Service, the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the U.S. Public Health Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The issue of a 45-minute inspection standard at airports will be examined more closely in our audit of Air Passenger Inspections.

7 A target to determine if all passengers on international flights were inspected within 45 minutes.

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