Event: Interview of

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MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD

(FBI--Miairii-Field Office JTTF) 79/11 Law Enforcement Privacy

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Type of Event: Interview

Date: September 30, 2003

Special Access Issues: None

Prepared by: Caroline Barnes

Team number: 6

Location: FBI, Miami Field Office

Participants Non-Commission: FBI Assistant General COunsel Sean O'Neill

Participants — Commission: Caroline Barnes and Peter Rundlet

Background. I Ihas been a Special Agent for 17 years with the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), now the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE) within the Department of Homeland Security. He has working primarily alien smuggling, criminal alien and fraud investigations, and has spent his entire career in the Miami Office. In 1992 he was assigned to the Miami Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). When he joiried the JTTF there were few non-FBI participants. Specifically, there were twoINS agents, one Miami Police Department (MPD) representative and one Florida Dept of Law Enforcement (FDLE) representative on the JTTF. Obtaining the requisite lOel of clearances was a problem for the non-FBI personnel. INS representatives had Secret level clearances but needed Top Secret clearances to do the CT work, and there was a question as to which agency would pay for the necessary background investigation. Because of this situation, his assignment to the JTTF "fizzled out" and he returned to the Miami INS Office.

In January 20031 'applied for the JTTF posting and was reassigned to the Task Force on a full-time basis. He estimates that he spends 95% of his time on JTTF work, although he does have an INS caseload and must serve as an INS duty agent every two months. Also, he has a Cuban boat smuggling case that takes up some of his time. He is assigned to T-6, the JTTF squad that handles Domestic Terrorism, rapid response, and Cuba Neutrality Act violations. The JTTF assignment is a non-supervisory GS-13 position. This used to be a promotion for most, but now all INS agents are going to become GS-13s. •

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BICE Participation in Miami JTTF. His priniaryrOle is obtaining INS information for others on T-6. He explained thalseven IlgSiagents are sunnssed to he assigned to the JTTF:I 9/11 Law Enforcement Sensitive I

I 9/11 Law Enforcement Sensitive I Two of these remaining four are "in the pipeline," and one transferred out.I 'believes that there should be an INS agent on the T-4 squad becaUse,thiS is the Squadthat obtains all incoming information and then assigns the restilting'Ieads.

feels ,hiS arrest experience/and experience dealing :With foreigners helps the JTTF a Brea deal 'in part because a lot'Of people in the Miami area refuse to deal with the FBI. I fated that he loves working with the FBI and always has. He believes the information sharing between the. FBI and ICE is good, and believes his FBI supervisor is good. He feels overworked, however.

Every time' onducts an interview he is with an FBI Special Agent. He is not a case agent with his own caseload. He feels he does not have the time to run his own cases. He described himself as a "floater," conducting INS!database checks (i.e., alien status checks) for T-1, T-6 and T-8.

Initially INS sent a supervisor to the JTTF to supervise all of the INS personnel and this was "embarrassing." This individual has since left and will return soon as a non-supervisory liaison with the Coastguard and associated military elements. A Customs official is now the supervisor of all BICE personnel on the JTTF. He treats them as professionals and it seems to be working well.

BICE Authorities and Contribution.I !explained that ICE maintains a great deal of alien information

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9/11 Law Enforcement Sensitive 'Also, BICE can obtain administrative subpoenas whereas the FBI cannot. The two agencies have to work together.

Formation of BICE. I 'believes that there is now better coordination with the US Customs Service. The two entities work together better now and are more professional — they are doing away With the "good old boy" system and the agency is a stronger one as a result.

Information Technology Ikesources.rlan access most BICE data, with the exception of the TECS (TreasUry EnforceMent Communication System) database, from his laptop which he keeps at,/the JTTFoffice. He also has access to the FBI's computer system, FBINET, and ACS. For the first two months he was with the JTTF he had to go back to his ICE Office to check the ICE computerized databases, but the FBI

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BICE can offer people a carrot that the FBI cannot

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finally put in a phOne„line so he could.dolt from his JTTF s a trainer on TECS and other ICE syStems.._*--feels he has access to all -Of/ill:4:10E systems he needs to have access to, but said-that he's--the exception to the rtilei .„.

I (believes that FBI agents and analysts-shatild Wa've direct access to TECS - .„ .i, . but FBI Headquarters and ICE seem reluctant to apPrbv,e it:'' a I

He acknowledged that there Might be a "third agency" problem with FBI access to TECS. access/to ACS is somewhat limited. He guessed that FBI Headquarters might beconeemedithatlif it pushes for TECS access for its personnel, ICE personnel will request full ACS/access.

,„ National JTTF. The NJTTF is' predominantly aitraining and informational

resource for JTTF personnel. iittended the NXTTF's first annual conference talf r recently with four other Mia ' embers. Ji.lasted for 3 days and was attended by

approximately 540 personnel. 'tated that the lOcation was "good" because it was one "you couldn't leave." Most of the speaker's were from the FBI, and they spoke about upcoming organizational changes and "bringing the' walls down." The FBI paid for his attendance and that of the other non-FBI JT,TFperSonnel (he feels INS would not have paid for him to attend if they'd been askediordo so). Maureen Baginski of the FBI gave an excellent motivational speech.' jiescribed her as "tough." She said that "there is no'r in TEAM" and stated that the goal is,-to have everyone working together. He especially appreciated the fact that she put certain questioners in their place. r -laid that there was a lot of complaining about' the FISA process (it's slow unless you say it's an emergency, packages often get lost,,,etc.) and the lack of administrative subpoena authority. Army and CIA personnel spoke at the conference as well.

FBI Rating System. 'stated that each agent has to maintain five sources in order to be rated well, and this is difficult. This requirement leads to a situation in which agents don't want to share sources or source information with representatives of other agencies because they are afraid that the other agency will steal the case or the source.

CIA.I 9/11 Classified Information 1He said that he gets information from the CIA, but it takes time. The information requests he's made have been Dart of his ioint case work with FBI agents on the JTTF. He said the

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FBI Analysts. 'only contact with the analysts involves requesting that they conduct ACS chec s or im because his ACS access is limited.

Recommendations. There should be more ICE agents on the JTTF.

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