Congress will investigate whether federal immigration officers are being pressured to approve questionable visa applications, following The Daily’s revelation of a bombshell government report alleging a “get to yes” mantra among Homeland Security higher-ups.
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary, said yesterday that the practices detailed in the 40-page report, drafted by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, threaten “the integrity of our immigration system.”
“It’s outrageous that administration officials would compromise national security for their own political agenda and gain,” Smith said, pointing out that visa applications often lead to U.S. citizenship. “The president’s most important job is to protect the American people, but it seems this administration is more interested in ignoring immigration regulations than making sure those who come here will not cause us harm.”
He continued: “The immigration subcommittee plans to hold a hearing in February on visa fraud and will investigate these alleged abuses by the administration.”
In the draft report exclusively obtained by The Daily, nearly one-fourth of the 254 surveyed immigration officers said they had been pressured to approve questionable cases, sometimes against their will. A source within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services told The Daily he had been demoted for denying too many applications.
USCIS spokesman Christopher Bentley said any allegation that employees faced retaliation for denying applications “is categorically false.”
Bentley also said in an emailed statement to The Daily that the agency “takes seriously the responsibility to safeguard the integrity of America’s immigration system.” He said the number of fraud detection officers has been increased by almost 20 percent over the last two years, to more than 750.
The Daily’s report yesterday quoted immigration officers as complaining that since the Obama administration appointed Alejandro Mayorkas as USCIS director in August 2009, more of them were being told to OK visa applications quickly, even if they had concerns about fraud. “People are afraid,” said one longtime manager. “Integrity only carries people so far because they’ve got to pay the rent.”
But immigration advocates and attorneys questioned the findings in the inspector general’s report, maintaining that they have actually been seeing more rigorous enforcement in the last few years. Some said they have seen more detailed requests for evidence, such as an impromptu tour of the home of a couple applying for a marriage visa or photographs of an employer’s office.
Eleanor Pelta, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said she has seen a higher rate of both visa denials and requests for more evidence in the last few years. She suggested that the reports that immigration officers feel pressured to approve applications may be a backlash against publicly announced efforts by Mayorkas to better train field staff in certain areas.
“When an adjudicator is looking at the body of evidence in a case, the evidence needs to show that it is more likely than not that a person is eligible for the benefits sought,” Pelta said. “When headquarters reminds the field staff that that’s the standard of review, often what we see is that the field says headquarters is pressuring them to approve cases.”
But immigration hawks disagreed with that assessment.
“The report by the DHS inspector general is yet another confirmation of the lengths to which the administration is prepared to go to subvert the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws,” said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform. “This latest report indicates that they are also engaging in intimidation tactics to ensure that career officers at USCIS carry out their jobs according the political dictates of this administration, rather than the laws they have sworn to uphold.”
Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, said that visa decision-making has seemed more consistent since the Obama administration gave more power to fraud detection officers in 2010.
Stanley Renshon, a professor in the political science department at the City University of New York who has written extensively about immigration, said visa processing delays are an old problem, but that speeding through approvals could jeopardize national security.
“We have to be careful that we’re not letting people in who don’t deserve to be or shouldn’t be here, and that takes time, and you need people to do that,” Renshon said. “It’s about resources and time and trade-offs.”
Sarah.Ryley@thedaily.com
Ashley.Kindergan@thedaily.com
Click here to read yesterday's blockbuster exclusive detailing the report - and check back tomorrow for more exclusive coverage.
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary, said yesterday that the practices detailed in the 40-page report, drafted by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, threaten “the integrity of our immigration system.”
“It’s outrageous that administration officials would compromise national security for their own political agenda and gain,” Smith said, pointing out that visa applications often lead to U.S. citizenship. “The president’s most important job is to protect the American people, but it seems this administration is more interested in ignoring immigration regulations than making sure those who come here will not cause us harm.”
He continued: “The immigration subcommittee plans to hold a hearing in February on visa fraud and will investigate these alleged abuses by the administration.”
In the draft report exclusively obtained by The Daily, nearly one-fourth of the 254 surveyed immigration officers said they had been pressured to approve questionable cases, sometimes against their will. A source within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services told The Daily he had been demoted for denying too many applications.
USCIS spokesman Christopher Bentley said any allegation that employees faced retaliation for denying applications “is categorically false.”
Bentley also said in an emailed statement to The Daily that the agency “takes seriously the responsibility to safeguard the integrity of America’s immigration system.” He said the number of fraud detection officers has been increased by almost 20 percent over the last two years, to more than 750.
The Daily’s report yesterday quoted immigration officers as complaining that since the Obama administration appointed Alejandro Mayorkas as USCIS director in August 2009, more of them were being told to OK visa applications quickly, even if they had concerns about fraud. “People are afraid,” said one longtime manager. “Integrity only carries people so far because they’ve got to pay the rent.”
But immigration advocates and attorneys questioned the findings in the inspector general’s report, maintaining that they have actually been seeing more rigorous enforcement in the last few years. Some said they have seen more detailed requests for evidence, such as an impromptu tour of the home of a couple applying for a marriage visa or photographs of an employer’s office.
Eleanor Pelta, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said she has seen a higher rate of both visa denials and requests for more evidence in the last few years. She suggested that the reports that immigration officers feel pressured to approve applications may be a backlash against publicly announced efforts by Mayorkas to better train field staff in certain areas.
“When an adjudicator is looking at the body of evidence in a case, the evidence needs to show that it is more likely than not that a person is eligible for the benefits sought,” Pelta said. “When headquarters reminds the field staff that that’s the standard of review, often what we see is that the field says headquarters is pressuring them to approve cases.”
But immigration hawks disagreed with that assessment.
“The report by the DHS inspector general is yet another confirmation of the lengths to which the administration is prepared to go to subvert the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws,” said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform. “This latest report indicates that they are also engaging in intimidation tactics to ensure that career officers at USCIS carry out their jobs according the political dictates of this administration, rather than the laws they have sworn to uphold.”
Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, said that visa decision-making has seemed more consistent since the Obama administration gave more power to fraud detection officers in 2010.
Stanley Renshon, a professor in the political science department at the City University of New York who has written extensively about immigration, said visa processing delays are an old problem, but that speeding through approvals could jeopardize national security.
“We have to be careful that we’re not letting people in who don’t deserve to be or shouldn’t be here, and that takes time, and you need people to do that,” Renshon said. “It’s about resources and time and trade-offs.”
Sarah.Ryley@thedaily.com
Ashley.Kindergan@thedaily.com
Click here to read yesterday's blockbuster exclusive detailing the report - and check back tomorrow for more exclusive coverage.
