House Republicans investigating fraud in migrant parole program

The House Homeland Security Committee sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas seeking answers about reports of fraud in a migrant parole program. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) paused President Joe Biden’s migrant flights because sponsors were being improperly vetted. 

The program allowed 30,000 migrants per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to come into the United States with the support of a financial sponsor. Those allowed in could live and work in the states for two years.

The organization Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, obtained an internal investigation that found U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services identified thousands of applications with fraudulent information.

The investigation found false Social Security numbers, phone numbers and addresses on the I-34A forms filled out by sponsors. Investigators found that sponsors used 100 addresses on 19,000 applications. Those addresses included warehouses and storage units.

DHS said there were no problems vetting migrants, just sponsors.

DHS told The Associated Press in a statement that the beneficiaries “are thoroughly screened and vetted prior to their arrival to the United States.” The department also said it would “restart application processing as quickly as possible, with appropriate safeguards.”

The Homeland Security Committee is continuing its inquiry into the matter and wants Mayorkas to hand over documents that could shed light on what went wrong.

The committee requested an unredacted copy of the Department of Homeland Security’s internal report that identifies patterns, trends and potential fraud indicators within the program. Additionally, members requested the associated data used to inform the report.

Committee members also said they want all documents and communications within the department and with external contractors regarding the report and the decision to pause the program.

Members want the information by Aug. 27. Since the program was fully introduced in January 2023, approximately 494,000 people have been let into the country.