The Trump administration wants Congress to approve funding for 200 new special agents in the Department of Homeland Security who would focus only on immigration fraud investigations.
According to the Washington Examiner, the plan was discussed during a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security hearing on Thursday, where US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow said the agency had already started working on the White House proposal.
DHS to hire 200 special agents to crack down on immigration fraud
During the hearing, Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas said USCIS planned to hire “200 agents” for the upcoming Atlanta-based USCIS Vetting Centre. He questioned why existing agencies could not handle the work instead of building a separate team.
Edlow said the goal was to create a small but dedicated criminal investigation branch that would look into immigration fraud and entitlement fraud linked to USCIS work.
“What I am trying to create here is a very narrow criminal investigation branch that is going to focus specifically on immigration fraud and entitlement fraud that falls within our purview,” Edlow said, according to WE. He added that fraud has existed in the system for years, but prosecutions have remained rare.
“For the amount of immigration fraud that we have seen, that we have uncovered, that I know has been in the system for many, many years, there is a very small number, hardly any prosecutions, we’ve ever seen. This is to really focus on that,” he said.
Biden-era asylum approvals also under review
Edlow said USCIS had been pushed during the Biden-era border crisis to speed up immigration and naturalisation cases.
He claimed it was done “with little regard for how that affected national security and the safety of our communities.”
The Department of Homeland Security also said it would review all asylum cases approved under former President Joe Biden.
At present, special agents work within Homeland Security Investigations, the investigative wing of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Edlow said all new USCIS special agents would go through the criminal investigator training program, along with a separate nine-week training course designed specifically for USCIS agents.
‘We are re-vetting cases for people who were granted Green Card’
Edlow said the agency will soon open multiple tip lines where people can report suspected immigration fraud. He stressed that every complaint will be taken seriously and reviewed with help from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
“No tip is too small. We will look into it along with our partners at ICE and with CBP,” he said. He also sent a direct warning to offenders. “People who are perpetrating fraud, STOP! Because we are going to find you. If you have already done it and you think you have gotten away with it, we are going back,” Edlow said. He added that authorities are also reopening older cases.
“We are looking at old cases. We are going back and re-vetting cases for people who were granted Green Cards and other benefits during the Biden administration when there was no vetting,” he said.
Edlow said the main goal of USCIS is national security and protecting American citizens. “Our primary mission is to keep Americans safe. Despite challenges from radical, activist judges, we remain committed to protecting this country. Keeping America safe is our charge, and we will do it unapologetically,” he said.
Move comes after Washington shooting
The decision to create a special office to review legal immigration applicants for fraud was reportedly made last November. It followed the shooting of two West Virginia National Guard soldiers in Washington, DC, by an Afghan national who entered the United States during the Biden administration and was later granted asylum during President Donald Trump’s first term.
Green cards from 19 countries to be reviewed
Last December, the Trump administration announced that USCIS would re-examine green cards issued to people from 19 countries considered “of concern” after the shooting. The countries listed were Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.