A Decade of Policy Failure: The Impact of Mass Refugee Fraud on the U.S. Immigration System

Abstract

This year marks the passing of a full decade since the greatest refugee fraud crisis in modern times. The overseas P-3 refugee “family reunification” program was suspended in 2008 following revelations of shocking fraud levels. The program restarted in 2012 with significant processing improvements, including a DNA-screening requirement. Left unresolved was the issue of thousands of fraudulent refugees who were admitted to the United States before the suspension. In contravention of clear principle, solid evidence, and direct experience, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) continued to use the wrong screening strategy to process the pre-suspension P-3 caseload. USCIS disbursed domestic immigration benefits to fraudulent refugees without in-person interviews for many benefits, without required DNA tests for any benefits, and without administrative fraud checks for older cases. A Niagara of overseas refugee fraud was met with a dribble of domestic defense. This was staggering irresponsibility, possibly the biggest blunder in immigration history. Yesterday’s fraudulent refugees became today’s green card holders, international travelers using refugee travel documents, and U.S. citizens. There were other follow-on consequences. First, fraud of this magnitude multiplies the chances of terror. Second, significant numbers of human trafficking victims, mostly women and children, were not identified because of deficient screening. Third, legions of fraudulently-admitted refugees took full advantage of public assistance benefits. Finally, USCIS proposed a plan in 2013 to prematurely dispose centralized records connected to the fraud-ridden program. The domestic P-3 system in 2018 is on a trajectory toward collapse, the same fate that befell the overseas program in 2008 after twenty years of dysfunction. It is not too late to arrest the steep decline. New DHS and USCIS leaders are sure to understand a hard-learned policy lesson that somehow eluded their predecessors: both sides of the P-3 immigration continuum needed reform. Sensible fraud intervention measures should have been instilled in both systems, not just in the overseas program, to stem the rolling devastation of mass refugee fraud.