But immigration officials said at a separate congressional hearing that SEVIS is operating smoothly. While the new system has faced challenges, "most problems are quickly addressed and resolved," says Johnny Williams, interim director for immigration interior enforcement at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In March, the system closed briefly to make technical fixes so that schools could complete data entry tasks in a timely way. Williams acknowledges that some information has printed out at other schools but said a contractor is working on the problem.
"Any new system will have bugs and anomalies that must be addressed," he says. "SEVIS is a new system, developed and deployed under an aggressive schedule."
The U.S. Department of Justice inspector general, Glenn Fine, says federal immigration officials have made "significant progress" in implementing SEVIS. Even though the INS said the system would be entirely operational in early 2003, Fine says the new program is "not yet fully implemented."
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