Federal Indictments Against INS Officers for Shredding Cases

Text Box: Two INS managers were indicted on January 29, 2003 for allegedly destroying as many as 90,000 documents in an effort to reduce a backlog at Laguna Niguel.On Wednesday January 29, 2003, a federal grand jury indicted INS workers Dawn Randall and Leonel Salazar on charges of conspiracy and willfully destroying documents.  To eliminate a backlog, the two employees of the INS California Service Center allegedly destroyed as many as 90,000 documents including applications for asylum, citizenship, visas and work permits, and supporting documents including passports and birth and marriage certificates.  The California Service Center processes applications for persons and employers in Arizona, California, Nevada, Hawaii and Guam.

The indictment alleges that Randall, a file room manager, ordered Salazar, a supervisor, and others to shred unprocessed documents last February after the backlog reached about 90,000.  INS did not discover these activities and stop them until April 4, 2002.[1]

[1] I.N.S. Shredder Ended Work Backlog, U.S. Says, John M. Broder, New York Times January 31, 2003.