WASHINGTON (AP) — Administrasyon Biden an ap rekòmanse yon pwogram imigrasyon ki pèmèt moun soti Kiba, Ayiti, Nikaragwa, ak Venezyela pou yo antre nan Etazini, ak apwobasyon nan yon pwosesis verifikasyon “adisyonèl” pou sponsor finansye yo ki baze nan Etazini, apre enkyetid sou fwod.
Depatman Sekirite Entèn (DHS) te sispann pwogram nan pi bonè mwa sa a pou mennen ankèt sou enkyetid sa yo, men yo fè konnen yon revizyon entèn pa te jwenn okenn fwod ki gaye nan mitan sponsor yo.
“Ansanm ak verifikasyon rigouèz nou fè sou potansyèl benefisyè yo k ap chèche vwayaje nan Etazini, nouvo pwosedi sa yo pou sipòtè yo te ranfòse entegrite pwosesis sa yo e ap ede pwoteje kont eksplwatasyon benefisyè yo,” ajans lan te di.
Pwogram lan te lanse nan mwa janvye 2023 e li se yon pati enpòtan nan politik imigrasyon administrasyon Biden an ki kreye oswa elaji chemen pou antre legal pandan li limite azil pou moun k ap travèse fwontyè ilegalman.
Politik la vize peyi ki voye yon gwo kantite moun nan Etazini epi ki anjeneral refize aksepte moun ki depòte yo. Li asosye ak angajman Meksik pou li aksepte moun ki soti nan peyi sa yo ki travèse fwontyè Etazini ilegalman.
Nan kad pwogram nan, Etazini aksepte jiska 30,000 moun pa mwa ki soti nan kat peyi yo pandan de ane epi yo ofri kalifikasyon pou otorizasyon travay. Pou kalifye, migran yo dwe gen yon sponsor finansye nan Etazini ki ap pwoteje yo epi yo dwe vwayaje nan yon ayewopò Ameriken nan pwòp depans yo, olye de travèse nan fwontyè sid la. Moun k ap aji kòm sponsor ak migran yo k ap espere vini nan Amerik sibi verifikasyon pa Depatman Sekirite Entèn.
Repibliken yo te kritike pwogram nan plizyè fwa kòm yon fason pou evite lwa imigrasyon yo. Yo te atake administrasyon an imedyatman lè pwogram nan te sispann pi bonè mwa sa a, souliye li kòm yon validasyon plis pou enkyetid yo konsènan si migran yo te byen verifye. Yo te kritike tou desizyon Jedi a pou rekòmanse pwogram nan.
“Olye pou yo elimine pwogram ki klèman defektye a, depatman an ap pèmèt li kontinye san yo pa elimine fwod la oswa mete anplas ase mezi pwoteksyon pou anpeche eksplwatasyon pa sponsor yo isit la nan Etazini. Men fondamantalman, pa ta gen okenn fwod pou anpeche si DHS te sispann enpòte 30,000 etranje ki pa kalifye chak mwa nan premye plas,” te di Repibliken Mark Green, prezidan Komite Sekirite Entèn nan Chanm Depite yo.
Depatman Sekirite Entèn te di nan yon deklarasyon Jedi ke verifikasyon adisyonèl la ta enkli plis ekzamen sou dosye finansye ke sponsor yo ki baze nan Etazini oblije soumèt, osi byen ke background kriminèl yo. Sponsor yo pral oblije soumèt anprent yo, epi ajans lan pral ranfòse mezi pou idantifye sponsor ki fè fwod lè yo soumèt plizyè aplikasyon.
DHS te di yon revizyon entèn te jwenn kèk ka fwod, tankou sponsor k ap itilize nimewo Sekirite Sosyal fo, men majorite ka yo te mennen ankèt sou yo te gen yon eksplikasyon rezonab, tankou yon erè lè yon sponsor t ap soumèt enfòmasyon sou entènèt.
“Depi pwosesis la te kòmanse, yon trè ti kantite sipòtè yo te jwenn ki gen pwoblèm fwod oswa kriminèl ki te merite referans bay otorite pou mennen ankèt epi/oswa aksyon apwopriye,” ajans lan te di.
Depatman Sekirite Entèn te di tou li pa te jwenn pwoblèm nan verifikasyon migran yo menm, li te di moun ki vini nan Etazini anba pwogram nan “yo te byen verifye epi ekranize.”
Lè li te anonse sispansyon pwogram nan, Depatman Sekirite Entèn pa t di ki lè pwosesis la te sispann. Men nouvèl la te gaye apre Federasyon pou Refòm Imigrasyon Ameriken, yon gwoup ki sipòte restriksyon sou imigrasyon, te site yon rapò ajans entèn ki te soulve kesyon sou fwod.
Ni DHS ni FAIR pa te bay rapò sa a. FAIR te fè konnen rapò a te montre ke 3,218 sponsor te responsab pou plis pase 100,000 dosye ak 24 nan 1,000 pi gwo nimewo Sekirite Sosyal ke sponsor yo te itilize te koresponn ak moun ki mouri.
Enkyetid sou sponsor k ap chèche yon pwofi rapid te parèt prèske depi kòmansman an. Gwoup Facebook ak non tankou “Sponsors U.S.” te genyen plizyè douzèn mesaj k ap ofri epi k ap chèche sipòtè finansye.
Depi pwogram nan te lanse, plis pase 520,000 moun ki soti nan kat peyi yo te rive nan Etazini.
Arèstasyon pou travèse ilegal yo te plonje pami kat nasyonalite yo. Kiben yo te arete 5,065 fwa pandan premye mwatye ane a, konpare ak plis pase 42,000 arestasyon nan mwa Novanm 2022 pou kont li. Ayisyen yo te arete 304 fwa pandan sis premye mwa ane a, konpare ak yon somè prèske 18,000 nan mwa Septanm 2021.
Biden restarts immigration program for 4 countries with more vetting for sponsors
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is restarting an immigration program that allows migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to come to the United States, and it is including “additional vetting” of their U.S.-based financial sponsors following fraud concerns.
The Department of Homeland Security had suspended the program earlier this month to investigate the concerns but indicated that an internal review found no widespread fraud among sponsors.
“Together with our existing rigorous vetting of potential beneficiaries seeking to travel to the United States, these new procedures for supporters have strengthened the integrity of these processes and will help protect against exploitation of beneficiaries,” the agency said.
The program launched in January 2023 and is a major piece of the Biden administration’s immigration policies that create or expand pathways for legal entry while restricting asylum for those who cross the border illegally.
Under the program, the U.S. accepts up to 30,000 people a month from the four countries for two years and offers eligibility for work authorization. To qualify, migrants must have a financial sponsor in the U.S. who vouches for them and fly into an American airport at their own expense, rather than crossing at the southern border. Those acting as sponsors and the migrants hoping to come to America undergo vetting by Homeland Security.
Republicans have repeatedly criticized the program as an end-run around immigration laws. They immediately attacked the administration when the program was suspended early this month, pointing to it as further validation of their concerns about whether migrants were properly vetted. And they criticized the decision announced Thursday to restart.
“Instead of scrapping the clearly flawed program, the department is allowing it to continue without rooting out the fraud or putting adequate safeguards in place to prevent exploitation by sponsors here in the United States. But fundamentally, there would be no fraud to prevent if DHS simply stopped importing 30,000 inadmissible aliens every month in the first place,” said Republican Rep. Mark Green, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Thursday that the additional vetting would include more scrutiny of the financial records that U.S.-based sponsors are required to submit as well as their criminal backgrounds. Sponsors will be required to submit fingerprints, and the agency will bolster steps to identify sponsors who are fraudulent and when one files numerous applications.
DHS said an internal review found some cases of fraud, such as sponsors using fake Social Security numbers, but that the majority of cases it investigated had a reasonable explanation, such as a typo when a sponsor was submitting information online.
“Since the inception of the process, a very small number of supporters were found to have fraud or criminal issues warranting referral to law enforcement for investigation and/or appropriate action,” the agency said.
Homeland Security also said it had not found issues in vetting the migrants themselves, saying those who come to the U.S. under the program “have been thoroughly screened and vetted.”
When it announced the program’s suspension, Homeland Security didn’t say when processing stopped. But the news broke after the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group that favors immigration restrictions, cited an internal agency report that raised questions about fraud.
Neither Homeland Security nor FAIR have provided that report. FAIR asserted that the report showed that 3,218 sponsors were responsible for more than 100,000 filings and that 24 of the top 1,000 Social Security numbers used by sponsors corresponded to dead people.
Concerns about sponsors seeking a quick profit surfaced almost from the start. Facebook groups with names like “Sponsors U.S.” carried dozens of posts offering and seeking financial supporters.
Since the program was launched, more than 520,000 people from the four countries have arrived in the U.S.
Arrests for illegal crossings have plummeted among the four nationalities. Cubans were arrested 5,065 times during the first half of the year, compared with more than 42,000 arrests in November 2022 alone. Haitians were arrested 304 times during the first six months of the year, compared with a peak of nearly 18,000 in September 2021.
