Immigration Benefits: Actions Needed to Address Vulnerabilities in Process for Granting Permanent Residency
GAO-09-55
Published: Dec 05, 2008. Publicly Released: Jan 05, 2009.
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Highlights
Since September 11, 2001, a concern has been that terrorists or their supporters would seek to immigrate to the United States (i.e., seek lawful permanent residency (LPR)). The Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) conducts background checks and the FBI conducts name checks for those applying for LPR. GAO was asked to review USCIS's processes for screening individuals applying for LPR. GAO assessed: (1) what available data show about the extent to which national security concerns were discovered during USCIS background checks for LPR applications, (2) what issues USCIS has encountered in its background check processes and what actions have been taken to resolve those issues, and (3) the extent to which USCIS has addressed fraud vulnerabilities in its adjudication procedures for LPR. To conduct this work, GAO analyzed USCIS background check and adjudication procedures, USCIS data on adjudications, and its assessments of fraud in applications for LPR, and interviewed USCIS and FBI officials.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| United States Citizenship and Immigration Services | To help ensure that findings from USCIS benefit fraud and compliance assessments are acted upon, and to enhance USCIS's overall fraud detection efforts, the Director of USCIS should prepare a roadmap for each of the four outstanding benefit fraud and compliance assessments (petitions for skilled and unskilled workers, spouses, and relatives from Yemen, and applications for asylum) that delineates (1) timetables for deciding what actions to take, (2) which USCIS organizational units will be responsible for implementing those actions, and (3) a timetable for implementing agreed-upon actions. | In 2008, we reported on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services's (USCIS) processes for screening individuals applying for lawful permanent residency (LPR). Part of that evaluation examined the extent to which USCIS has addressed fraud vulnerabilities in its adjudication procedures for LPR applications. At the time of our report, USCIS had taken some actions to address vulnerabilities identified in one of its Benefit Fraud and Compliance Assessments (BFCA), but had yet to complete actions to address vulnerabilities identified in four other BFCAs. Although USCIS's Office of Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) completed these assessments between June 2006 and September 2007,... USCIS had not established time frames for evaluating these findings and implementing any necessary corrective actions. We recommended that the Director of USCIS, among other things, establish timetables for addressing findings from its four fraud assessments. In fiscal year 2012, USCIS informed GAO that, in response to our recommendations, its Office of Policy and Strategy developed a two-part plan to assess the quality of the previous BFCA reports and to create a program that will have the capacity to readily address a variety of issues concerning benefit fraud. The first part utilizes a contract vehicle to assess the BFCA reports while creating template methodologies that can be used to conduct future studies with greater effectiveness and efficiency. The second part involves the application of the newly-developed methodologies to focus on areas of concern as identified by ongoing operational and risk management efforts. USCIS informed GAO of its timetables for assessing the quality of BFCA reports, developing methodologies for future studies, and implementing those methodologies. According to USCIS, the Office of Policy and Strategy's Research and Evaluation Division will be responsible for monitoring the contract for assessing past BFCAs and for implementing any newly-developed methodologies. USCIS's plan to assess the quality of previous fraud assessments and to create a program to readily address benefit fraud issues meets the intent of our recommendation. With these new measures, USCIS should be able to better ensure that findings from fraud and compliance assessments are acted upon and enhance USCIS's overall fraud detection efforts.
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| United States Citizenship and Immigration Services | To help ensure that findings from USCIS benefit fraud and compliance assessments are acted upon, and to enhance USCIS's overall fraud detection efforts, the Director of USCIS should modify adjudication procedures for family- and employment-based petitions to include requirements on what evidence should be verified. | In 2008, we reported on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' (USCIS) processes for screening individuals applying for lawful permanent residency (LPR). Part of that evaluation examined the extent to which USCIS has addressed fraud vulnerabilities in its adjudication procedures for LPR applications. At the time of our report, USCIS had taken some actions to address vulnerabilities identified in one of its Benefit Fraud and Compliance Assessments (BFCA), but had yet to complete actions to address vulnerabilities identified in four other BFCAs. To fully implement our recommendation, USCIS needed to first release the findings from the four outstanding BFCA's and then based upon these...
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Immigration statusBackground investigationsCitizenshipClaims adjudicatorsClaims processingData collectionData integrityEligibility determinationsFraudHomeland securityImmigrantsImmigrationImmigration and naturalization lawImmigration information systemsInformation managementInformation systemsInternal controlsProgram managementImmigration statusRisk managementSafety standardsSchedule slippagesStandards evaluationTerroristsVisasCorrective actionPolicies and procedures