Biden Admin Pauses Controversial Program Allowing Migrants to Fly into US amid Fraud Concerns
The Biden administration has put on hold a contentious program that allowed tens of thousands of migrants from four South and Central American countries to fly directly to the US, following an internal report that revealed significant fraud within the program.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), “out of an abundance of caution,” paused its program that issued advance travel authorizations to 30,000 nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who met certain criteria. This pause, initiated in July, came after an internal report exposed extensive fraud in applications from those sponsoring the migrants.
“DHS has review mechanisms in place to detect and prevent fraud and abuse in our immigration processes. DHS takes any abuse of its processes very seriously,” stated a DHS spokesperson. “Where fraud is identified, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will investigate and litigate applicable cases in immigration court and make criminal referrals to the Department of Justice.”
“Out of an abundance of caution, DHS has temporarily paused the issuance of advanced travel authorizations for new beneficiaries while it undertakes a review of supporter applications. DHS will restart application processing as quickly as possible, with appropriate safeguards,” the spokesperson added.
The program began in 2022 for Venezuelan migrants, allowing them to fly into the US as long as they did not enter illegally, had a sponsor in the country, and passed biometric and biographical vetting. It expanded in January 2023 to include individuals from Haiti, Nicaragua, and Cuba, accommodating up to 30,000 people per month. The program also provided migrants with work permits and a two-year authorization to live in the country.
According to Fox News, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) stopped issuing authorizations to individuals from these countries by July 18. The internal report indicated that application forms contained social security numbers, addresses, and phone numbers that were used hundreds of times. Notably, the report found that 24 of the 1,000 most frequently used numbers belonged to individuals that were dead.
The pause has sparked backlash from critics who have continually argued the administration has been too lax on border control.
“This is an indication that the administration was willing to cut every corner and endanger public safety in order to bring in as many illegal aliens as they could,” said a spokesperson for the conservative immigration group FAIR.
