Leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee pressed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for answers on Thursday amid reports that citizenship applications were approved without background checks and green cards were erroneously issued.
U.S. Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO), the committee’s chairman and ranking member, questioned how USCIS approved 200 citizenship applications without appropriate background checks and erroneously issued 20,000 green cards.
“As every new problem with this system surfaces, it’s increasingly clear that use of it puts Missourians and all Americans at risk,” McCaskill said. “Citizenship papers or a green card in the wrong hands jeopardizes our national security, and I’m committed to working on a bipartisan basis to get answers now on what the government is going to do to make absolutely sure that more mistakes aren’t made.”
The Department of Homeland Security Inspector General has identified a host of issues with the Electronic Immigration System (ELIS). In addition to erroneous approvals of citizenship applications and issuances of green cards, the office has received 200,000 reports from approved applicants who are missing their green cards.
In a letter to USCIS Director Francis Cissna, Johnson and McCaskill requested information about which department officials were tasked with management and oversight of ELIS. The senators also questioned how citizenship applications were approved without proper vetting and requested data on applicants who were naturalized without vetting.
Johnson and McCaskill requested a response by Feb. 28.