GAO Report Exposes Massive Mismanagement and Corruption at the Agency that Would Administer Proposed Guest Worker Amnesty Proposals
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Tony Dolz
March 15, 2006
The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) has dealt the fatal blow to the controversial concept of Guest Worker Amnesty to 12 million illegal aliens now living in the United States in defiance of our laws. The GAO is the Investigative arm of Congress charged with examining matters relating to the receipt and payment of public funds.

In a devastating report released March 14th, the GAO charges the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) – this is the agency under the Department of Homeland Security that would be in charge of proposed Guest Worker Amnesty – with a failed organizational infrastructure and massive mismanagement and corruption.

On the eve of debate in the Senate Judiciary Committee of the House passed the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005 - HR 4437, the GAO report exposes massive immigration chaos and USCIS corruption. Among the GAO's most alarming findings were that 33 percent of religious worker visas were issued fraudulently. The GAO documents evidence that radical Islamist, with ties to terrorist organizations, have used the religious worker visa category to gain admission to the United States .

The timing of the report mars the hopes of millions of unethical employers that on-or-off their payroll employ 12 million or more illegal aliens and that were counting on lobbying efforts by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other pro-illegal immigration advocates, for influencing passage of a Guest Worker Amnesty Bill in the Senate.

The Government agency that would be responsible for administering the controversial Guest Worker Amnesty that would allow 12 million illegal aliens living and working un-lawfully in the United States is the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

The Copley News Service reported on March 7 th , 2006, that “Michael Maxwell stepped down last month as Director of the Office of Security at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and sought protection under the federal whistle-blower protection law. He claims that senior agency officials had been retaliating against him for telling Congress about what he described as serious national security vulnerabilities that persisted despite his warnings to those running the agency.”

In addition, Maxwell claims that the agency lacks the resources to handle some 500 allegations of criminal misconduct against agency employees, including allegations of espionage and acceptance of bribes.

Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) spokeswoman Angelica Alfonso declined requests for an interview. She released a statement yesterday that said the agency is confident of its processes, and that it takes the allegations seriously.

One of Maxwell's attorneys, Rosemary Jenks, was quoted by the Copley article, saying Maxwell's concerns demonstrate an underlying tension between Citizenship and Immigration Services' dual missions of providing immigration benefits to applicants and of protecting national secur ity.”

Why did the GAO conduct a study on the USCIS?

See Full Report here: (http://judiciary.house.gov/media/pdfs/gaoimmbenefits31006.pdfIn 2002)

The GAO report was commissioned by the U.S. Congress and it was part of an investigation that started immediately following the 9/11 terrorist attack.

The GAO report documents that immigration benefit fraud was pervasive and significant and the approach to controlling it was fragmented. Experts believe that individuals ineligible for these benefits, including terrorists and criminals, could use fraudulent means to enter or remain in the U.S. The U.S. Congress asked that GAO evaluate U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service's (USCIS) anti-fraud efforts. This report addresses the questions: (1) What do available data and information indicate regarding the nature and extent of fraud? (2) What actions has USCIS taken to improve its ability to detect fraud? (3) What actions does the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) take to sanction those who commit fraud?

Hordes of Immigration Law Attorneys have joined the ranks of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other organizations dedicated to cheapening the wages of American workers through the oversupply of workers through illegal immigration.

Which immigration law firm would not like to have a client base of 12 million desperate illegal aliens that grows at the rate of 2.5 million per year?

In one of the largest labor certification fraud schemes ever uncovered by the GAO, federal investigators found evidence that a single prominent immigration attorney in the Washington, D.C., area submitted at least 1,436 and perhaps as many as 2,700 fraudulent employment applications between 1998 and 2002. According to the sworn testimony of a Department of Labor (DOL) special agent, this attorney and his associates are alleged to have made at least $11.4 million for the 1,400 applications that the agent reviewed, in all of which he found evidence of fraud, and perhaps as much as $21.6 million if all 2,700 applications were fraudulent, as he strongly suspected.

The GAO reports goes on to say, “Some individuals seeking immigration benefits pose a threat to national security and public safety, and white collar and other criminals sometimes facilitate immigration benefit fraud. For example, according to the Office of Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS), each year about 5,200 immigration benefit applicants are identified as potential national security risks, because their personal information matches information contained in U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Interagency Border Inspection System, a database of immigration law violators and people of national security interest. Additionally, according to federal prosecutors, immigration benefit fraud may involve other criminal activity, such as income tax evasion, money laundering, production of fraudulent documents, and conspiracy. Also, organized crime groups have used sophisticated immigration fraud schemes, such as creating shell companies, to bring in aliens ostensibly as employees of these companies. In addition, a number of individuals linked to a hostile foreign power's intelligence service were found to have been employed as temporary alien workers on military research.”

Unethical immigration law attorneys should be charged with aiding and abetting illegal immigration and in creating an unlawful climate that puts all of us at risk of terrorism. Why? Because o nce one of their clients obtains a temporary work authorization fraudulently, an alien can use it to obtain other valid identity documents such as a temporary social security card and a driver's license; thus facilitating their living and working in the United States. It is important to recognize, in the illegal immigration debate, who butters the immigration attorney's bread.

The GAO found that the USCIS is completely unprepared to handle their present 7.5 million case work load with their 3000 employees. Catching up to with their workload is made all the more unlikely given the management systems shortfalls and the high levels of corruption within the organization. Few if any of the present 500 allegations of criminal misconduct against agency employees will be prosecuted.

The GAO finds the agency as it stands will be unable to handle the proposed Guest Worker Amnesty proposals bandied about by President Bush and a bi-partisan group of Senators influenced by tearful pleads accompanied by campaign contributions from employers who currently employ illegal aliens.

USCIS mismanagement and corruption is all the more menacing given that Donna Bucella , the Director of the federal Terrorist Screening Center said Tuesday that the agency maintains a list of 200,000 people known or suspected to be terrorists. She reported on March 14, 2006, that Police and other government workers in the U.S. have come in contact with terrorists or people suspected of foreign terror ties more than 6,000 times in the past 28 months. In addition, she said, that there have been about 28,000 matches worldwide, many of those from U.S. diplomatic outposts that screen applicants for visas to enter the United States .

Does is seem to you that President Bush is doing all that is possible or necessary to secure our borders and to keep us safe from terrorism by enforcing immigration law? Can we trust the Senate with giving us a Guest Worker Amnesty program that is not tainted by political contributions from illegal alien employers? Can we trust that a Guest Worker Amnesty, if approved, would be adequately administered by the USCIS?

Write and call your Senators and share with them your views on Guest Worker Amnesty for 12 million illegal aliens and 200,000 known terrorists, any one of whom could have already slipped through our unprotected borders, or planning to do so.

It has been four and half years since the findings of the 9/11 Commission. Securing our borders was the number one concern of the Commission. None of its border security recommendation have been enacted, much less even funded. That is why I decided to become a candidate for the California 41st Assembly District. I need and welcome your support and contributions.

The Field Poll of September 2005 shows 81% of Californians are concerned about illegal immigration. The Field Poll of March 2006 shows 57% of registered voters and 71% of Republicans have an unfavorable view of illegal immigration. We can win this race!

Support candidates that stand for border security and immigration law enforcement at every level of government, our nation is in danger.

Tony Dolz