The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service's Portland district director, David Beebe, departed the agency under pressure Tuesday, but elected officials and community leaders aren't satisfied that his retirement will resolve their complaints.

Beebe told employees Tuesday he would retire Oct. 3 after months of public outrage over his rigid, isolated management style. Northwest members of Congress plan to present a list of demands to INS Commissioner Doris Meissner on Thursday, requesting more humane treatment of foreigners and U.S. citizens, better access to track cases and further training for employees in Oregon.

"It took a long time to get the attention of upper management of the INS about the problems in Portland, and now that we have their attention, we don't want to lose it," said U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore.

Meissner telephoned Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., early Tuesday to announce Beebe's retirement from the $114,000-a-year position. Beebe went on leave immediately after addressing about 40 of his 130 employees during a morning meeting.

The 25-year agency veteran, who led the Portland office for 12 years, later declined, through his wife, to be interviewed. Virginia Kice, public affairs director for the INS Western region, said she and Beebe had tears in their eyes when they hugged before he left the government building downtown.

"The last few months have been painful for everyone," Beebe said in a statement read to reporters by his boss, the INS Western region director, Johnny Williams. "I hope that my retirement will refocus the spotlight on the many positive contributions the men and women who work for the INS have made."

Williams, who apologized to the region for the agency's conduct, said that a Sept. 11 report by an agency task force found the Portland district suffers from:

• Heavy-handed enforcement of laws that ought to allow more humane treatment of foreigners. "The rigid way we enforced the law was an issue we want to look at."


• A breakdown in communications between the office and the community, which spawned distrust. "There was no way for people to have communication with the district director."


• Deficient customer service provided by employees. "There is an 'S' in the INS."


• Insufficient training of employees, who are disconnected from superiors. "Many times employees felt they already knew the answers to questions."

Williams said that he was most troubled by the "disconnect" between the INS and the community. "On behalf of the INS," he said, "let me extend our sincere apologies and sorrow that this has occurred."

Kice declined to release the report, saying Williams needed to edit and polish it. She said he might add plans for action before making the report public in a couple of weeks.

Last month, elected officials ranging from Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber to Northwest members of Congress called for Beebe's replacement. They expressed outrage after The Oregonian reported on rejections and jailings of foreigners arriving at Portland International Airport. INS officers this summer strip-searched and jailed a Chinese businesswoman later declared innocent, and deported a German woman without her breast-feeding child after jailers strip-searched her.

Williams said Tuesday the regional INS office would review the case of the German woman, Claudia Young. Results of an investigation by agency headquarters into treatment of the businesswoman -- Guo Liming, who has sued the officers and filed a $500,000 claim against the government -- are expected within three weeks.