Biden admin pauses flights for migrants into U.S. after fraud discovered
Daily News Article — Posted on August 6, 2024
(by Joh Michael Raasch, Political Reporter in Washington DC for UK Daily Mail) – The Biden administration has paused a controversial program that was flying hundreds of thousands of immigrants to the U.S. per year after massive fraud was discovered.
Department of Homeland Security officials confirmed Friday that it temporarily halted the [CHNV Parole program] that allows up to 30,000 nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela (CHNV) to enter the country each month.
The sudden freeze of the…plan comes after an internal DHS report revealed rampant fraud among the sponsors paying for the migrants to come to the country, a source familiar with the report told Fox News.
It will give the agency time to investigate if fraud has occurred in their supporter applications – which are forms filled by individuals who “agree to provide financial support to a beneficiary and undergo background checks.”
Just 3,200 individual sponsors signed up to support roughly 101,000 migrants according to the report, prompting concerns at DHS that the system is being abused.
The report indicating fraud also…found that some of the names used to fill out sponsor forms belonged to dead people.
Additionally, storage units were found to be the home address for some sponsor applications, while certain phone numbers were used on thousands of applications.
Almost 3,000 sponsors applications were filled out using fake zip codes, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) a conservative immigration nonprofit which first obtained the report, found.
According to a DHS spokesperson the agency now has “review mechanisms in place to detect and prevent fraud and abuse in our immigration processes. DHS takes any abuse of its processes very seriously,” a DHS spokesperson said.
“Where fraud is identified, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will investigate and litigate applicable cases in immigration court and make criminal referrals to the Department of Justice.”
The spokesperson continued: “Out of an abundance of caution, DHS has temporarily paused the issuance of advanced travel authorizations for new beneficiaries while it undertakes a review of supporter applications. DHS will restart application processing as quickly as possible, with appropriate safeguards.”
“Shut it down permanently,” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said of the Biden plan. “This program should have never existed in the first place. “It’s just another way the Biden-Harris Administration has welcomed hundreds of thousands of aliens into our country, unchecked.”
House Homeland Security Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., [said], “This admission by the Biden-Harris administration vindicates every warning we have ever issued about the unlawful CHNV mass-parole program.”
“It also exposes the lie by administration officials…about the quality and extent of the vetting process—not just for the inadmissible aliens seeking entry, but those attempting to sponsor them.”
“[The Homeland Security Committee] issued a subpoena last year to compel documents regarding this program, and while DHS partially complied, the department remains delinquent in producing certain documents and communications relating to the program.”
“This is exactly what happens when you create an unlawful mass-parole program in order to spare your administration the political embarrassment and bad optics of overrun borders. The Biden-Harris administration should terminate the CHNV program immediately,” Green added.
The flight program was started in October 2022 and was initially meant for Venezuelans who met certain conditions like they had not previously tried to enter the U.S. illegally, had a U.S.-based sponsor and passed biographical vetting. …
The sponsors for the migrants also must undergo background checks, which makes the reported fraud among them even more concerning.
Still, DHS emphasized that CHNV beneficiaries are “thoroughly screened” prior to their arrival.
“The multi-layered screening and vetting for advanced travel authorizations is separate from the screening of U.S.-based supporters,” the spokesperson told Fox News. “DHS has not identified issues of concern relating to the screening and vetting of beneficiaries.”
As of October 2023, there were around 1.6 million applicants waiting for DHS approval to fly to the U.S. using Biden’s parole program, the agency said this year.
Published at the UK Daily Mail on Aug. 2, 2024. Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission.
Questions
NOTE: Parole, in U.S. immigration law, generally refers to official permission to enter and remain temporarily in the U.S., under the supervision of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), without formal admission, and while remaining an applicant for admission. People paroled in the country are permitted to work.
1. The first paragraph of a news article should answer the questions who, what, where and when. (In this article, 1st and 2nd paragraphs). List the who, what, where and when of this news item. (NOTE: The remainder of a news article provides details on the why and/or how.)
2. a) On Jan. 5, 2023, the White House introduced the CHNV program in a Fact Sheet titled: "Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Border Enforcement Actions." What does CHNV stand for?
b) What does the Biden-Harris CHNV program do?
3. NOTE:
- A sponsor is a person who helps an immigrant become a lawful permanent resident (a person with a green card) by signing an “affidavit of support" (a document in which the sponsor agrees to accept financial responsibility for the applicant who is coming to live in the United States)” For the CHNV, the government requires a sponsor to "agree to provide them with financial support for the duration of their parole in the United States."
- A sponsor is referred to as a supporter by the Biden administration.
Describe the fraud committed by sponsors.
4. Why is the fraud committed by sponsors so concerning? (see para 18)
5. Cambridge Dictionary defines vet as: to examine something or someone carefully to make certain that it is or they are acceptable or suitable.
Re-read the assurances the DHS made in para. 19-20. Then re-read Republican House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green's assertions in para. 16. With whom do you agree? Explain your answer.
6. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) documents obtained by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) reveal that the department has been rubber stamping parole applications without verifying information provided by sponsors or parolees. ...
“This damning internal report further confirms that the sole focus of the Biden-Harris administration, when it comes to illegal immigration, is getting as many people into the country as they can, by any means necessary, and at the risk of national security” charged Dan Stein, president of FAIR. “The CHNV program was established without congressional authorization and in violation of statutory requirements that parole be granted only on a case-by-case basis for explicit national interest or humanitarian purposes.
“Not only has the administration made a mockery of the law, DHS’s internal investigation proves that USCIS ignored blatant fraud and confirmed applications despite fictitious information,” continued Stein. “The obvious questions that must be asked now are who gave the orders to ignore fraud? Has the agency taken steps to stop it? And what, if anything, is DHS doing to track down and potentially revoke parole for the many thousands of people granted entry after filing fraudulent applications?
“It is also imperative that Congress take immediate action to shut down the illegal and fraud-ridden CHNV program that the Biden-Harris administration has been using to mask the full scope of the illegal immigration crisis created by their policies,” Stein concluded. (Read the Summary of Fraud Findings at: fairus.org.)
Are Mr. Stein's assertions reasonable or unfair? Explain your answer.
Background
How CHNV Is Supposed to Work:
CHNV is a six-step process, which begins when a “supporter” [also known as a sponsor] in the United States files an I-134A, “Online Request to be a Supporter and Declaration of Financial Support”, through a USCIS* portal. In that form, the supporter ostensibly agrees to financially support a given CHNV national. [*U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services]
Once USCIS confirms those supporters, the agency sends the beneficiaries e-mails directing them to set up an online account attesting to eligibility (i.e., they are nationals of one of those countries or the spouse, common-law partner, or minor child of a beneficiary) and averring they’re not inadmissible on medical grounds.
Once that is done, beneficiaries are then sent to the CBP One app to upload photos and enter biographic information. At that point, beneficiaries are notified through the online account whether CBP will give them permission to fly to the United States to seek parole at a port of entry.
Keep in mind that nothing requires those CHNV beneficiaries to actually be living in either Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, or Venezuela. In fact, the Center determined after a lengthy FOIA battle that beneficiaries are flying into the United States from 77 different countries, including Australia, Argentina, and Iceland.
It’s questionable that any of them were headed to the Southwest border to enter illegally anytime soon.
In any event, once at their U.S. destination airports, CBP fingerprints beneficiaries and formally decides whether to grant them parole. It’s again not clear how many alien beneficiaries are denied parole, but if any are it’s up to ICE to remove them (as noted, no easy feat).
Otherwise, they receive parole good for up to two years (which brings with it the right to work authorization and a Social Security number). The Cubans and Haitians among the beneficiaries are immediately eligible for food stamps, Medicaid, and cash welfare. (from cis.org)
The Immigration and Nationality Act grants limited authority to grant parole and release for otherwise inadmissible aliens into the country “on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.” Since the [Biden administration's] official announcement of the CHNV program in January 2023, however, through June 2024, nearly 500,000 inadmissible aliens have arrived at U.S. ports of entry via the CHNV program. (from homeland.house.gov)
Internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) documents obtained by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) reveal that the department has been rubber stamping parole applications without verifying information provided by sponsors or parolees.
The internal review found evidence of fraud that includes the use of fake Social Security Numbers (SSNs), including SSNs of deceased individuals, and the use of false phone numbers. Many applications listed the same physical address. Some 100 addresses were listed on over 19,000 forms, and many parole applicants applied from a single property (including a mobile park home, warehouse, and storage unit). In addition, many applications were submitted by the same IP address. If this weren’t bad enough, the same exact answers to Form I-134A questions were provided on hundreds of applications – in some instances, the same answer was used by over 10,000 applicants. (from fairus.org)