Given the concerns about immigration and national security, you might expect the federal government to have the naturalization process locked down tight. Nope. It turns out the process is about as reliable as airport security screening. ADVERTISING Given the concerns
Given the concerns about immigration and national security, you might expect the federal government to have the naturalization process locked down tight. Nope. It turns out the process is about as reliable as airport security screening.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general has concluded that at least 858 immigrants inadvertently were granted citizenship, even though they already had been ordered out of the country once and hailed from countries of “special interest,” such as those known for immigration fraud or for posing a national security threat. How did nearly 900 people pull one over on our alert and sophisticated federal bureaucracy? They gave names and birth dates that the government could not trace back to original deportation or removal orders.
That’s remarkable. The average bouncer can spot a fake ID at a nightclub door, and the typical fraternity knows who it’s kicked out of previous house parties. Yet, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Homeland Security agency responsible for processing citizenship applications, can’t keep track of who does and doesn’t belong here. It can’t always tell who has been shown the door once before.
Applicants for citizenship must provide fingerprints, which are checked against Homeland Security and FBI databases. But not all fingerprints associated with older applications have been digitized.
When the 858 made new application for citizenship under different identities, the fingerprint check failed to flag them as repeat — and unwanted — customers.
While naturalization status can be revoked, the government has gone after few of those who squeaked through. Adding insult to injury, the inspector general reported that naturalized citizens have “the right to petition for others to come to the United States and the right to work in law enforcement.” Before officials caught on, two of the 858 had received credentials allowing them to work in the secure areas of commercial airports.
Improvements in the citizenship screening process, including an upgraded fingerprint database, are in the works. But that is small comfort to Americans already concerned about national security. The public now has 858 more reasons to be concerned.
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
