Number Of Those Slated For Deportation Granted Citizenship More Than Double Than First Reported
On Monday, it was reported by the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General's office that 858 individuals from "special interest countries" (countries that are threats to our nation) should have been deported. They were instead, granted citizenship.
Terrific, right? It gets worse.
But a footnote on page one of the report also states that there were, as of November 2015, an additional 953 individuals about whom the Inspector General couldn't determine if there was a problem with the fingerprint records specifically, but also should have been deported. This other group consisted of members of a slightly broader classification, from countries of concern as well as from neighboring countries where there is a history of fraud.
That amounts to a total of 1,811 individuals granted citizenship who should not have been.
The Department of Homeland Security responded to the report, saying it would review all 1,811 individuals "out of an abundance of caution."
I am so glad they're going to get on it. After all, the people in question shouldn't even be here.
The most farcical part of this entire debacle is how easy it was for them to pull it off. All they did was come up with new names and new birthdates and that was enough to sidestep the deportation orders. The reason they were not caught is because Homeland Security still does not have fingerprint records needed to match against the people digitized, stretching the process out.
There are some scary details contained within the report:
- Three of the individuals received credentials to work in secure areas of transportation. Two in the airline industry and one in the shipping industry. Thankfully, those credentials have been revoked.
- One of them is a law enforcement official
- Since they are citizens, they have the authority to sponsor others to come here to the United States
And finally, the cherry on top. Officials cannot just track these people down and deport them. The government must prove that fraud was committed and not just a mistake. It would have to all go through the courts.
One last thing: The government has 148,000 other sets of fingerprints that have yet to be processed that would stop this kind of thing from happening.
Feel safer?
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