The Biden-Harris administration has taken the rare step of pausing its CHNV immigration program, citing fears of widespread fraud after a comprehensive report by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) highlighted serious irregularities.
According to the Western Journal, the suspension follows a USCIS report revealing significant issues, including fraudulent Social Security Numbers, repeated addresses, and identical responses across thousands of applications.
The decision to pause the program stems from alarming findings in the USCIS report. The report uncovered various methods of fraud, including the use of fake Social Security Numbers—some belonging to deceased individuals—repeated phone numbers and duplicate addresses across multiple applications.
Notably, out of the 1,000 most frequently used sponsor Social Security Numbers, 24 were associated with deceased individuals. The report also highlighted that some applicants provided clearly false Social Security Numbers, such as "111111111" and "123456789."
In addition to these fraudulent numbers, the report identified that 100 specific addresses were used on over 19,000 immigration applications. Furthermore, numerous applications were submitted from unlikely locations, including mobile homes, warehouses, and storage units.
The USCIS report also revealed an alarming pattern of repetition across the data provided by applicants. For example, one phone number appeared on over 2,000 forms submitted by 200 different sponsors. Similarly, a single parolee phone number was used in 626 different forms, corresponding to 238 different last names and 142 different addresses.
Such patterns of repeated information have raised serious concerns about the integrity of the application process. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the suspension of the program is a precautionary measure to review and address these issues.
A DHS representative stated that the pause was made "out of an abundance of caution" and emphasized that the fraud appears to be concentrated in sponsor data rather than the individuals seeking entry into the United States.
Republican Representative Mark Green, Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, expressed strong criticism of the CHNV program. He argued that the findings of the USCIS report validate previous warnings about the risks associated with the program.
Rep. Mark Green criticized the Biden-Harris administration for inadequate vetting in the CHNV program, asserting it was created more to prevent political backlash than to ensure a secure immigration process. He called for its immediate termination due to the risks of fraudulent data compromising national security.
In response to the USCIS findings, DHS announced that it has mechanisms in place to detect and prevent fraud within its immigration processes. Where fraud is identified, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is tasked with investigating and, if necessary, making criminal referrals to the Department of Justice.
The Department of Homeland Security has temporarily paused the CHNV program, which permits entry to the U.S. for nationals from four countries, until it can implement the necessary safeguards following a review.
The Biden-Harris administration has halted a program designed to fast-track immigration from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, known as the CHNV program, due to concerns of widespread fraud involving identical answers on parole applications and the use of fake Social Security numbers. A report by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services uncovered that the same answer was used on over 10,000 applications, and numerous applications had repeated phone numbers and addresses. Despite the pause, the Department of Homeland Security emphasized that the issue lies with the sponsors, not the immigrants, and plans to resume the program with enhanced safeguards.
