Immigration and Naturalization Service Proposed Procurement of Automated Data Processing Equipment To Streamline and Update Office Procedures

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) plans to install minicomputers in its 49 offices. At present INS has six minicomputers. A review showed that INS did not comply with many guidelines and regulations in procuring its minicomputers; five were procured through sole source, noncompetitive actions. INS did not study the alternative methods of acquisition to determine the least cost or greatest advantage to the governmemt over the estimated life of the minicomputers. Leasing instead of purchasing the equipment may prove to be more costly to the government. Another compliance violation is the use of a vendor specific programming language in place of the Federal Standard. The proposed installation of minicomputers in INS will result in a total life cycle expenditure far in excess of the $5 million threshold level that has been established for the Department of Justice. According to the Office of Management and Budget regulations, government agencies should accomplish system acquisition planning based on analyses of agency missions; however, there was no evidence that this process was considered. The system development concept of the Integrated Case Control System by INS was also reviewed. A major defect is that the INS lacks a long-range automatic data processing (ADP) plan, and this lack of planning has partly come about because INS does not have an established top-level ADP steering committee with active participation by users and management. It is noted that INS is a relative neophyte in its attempt to automate its program compared to other federal agencies. For this reason, INS should be guided by Congress, the Department of Justice, and the General Services Administration in its development of an effective and efficient ADP operation.