Internal Homeland Security Report Proves Biden-Harris-Mayorkas CHNV Parole Program Loaded with Fraud
FAIR Take | August 2024
Immigration enforcement advocates have strongly opposed the illegal parole programs created by the Biden-Harris administration, repeatedly warning lawmakers about the public safety and national security risks. Those concerns have now been confirmed by an internal investigation by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) which found the agency has been rubberstamping parole applications as quickly as possible – without verifying information provided by sponsors or parolees.
The new report, obtained exclusively by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), details the alarming results of an internal review USCIS performed of thousands of sponsor applications for the Cuban-Haitian-Nicaragua-Venezuela (CHNV) parole program “to identify patterns, trends, and potential fraud indicators.” The new and never disclosed internal report suggests massive fraud in the application process, and specifically, fraudulent information used in thousands of Forms I-134A, the paperwork a sponsor files with USCIS for each alien seeking parole through the CHNV program.
The results are astounding. According to the internal agency review, evidence of fraud includes the use of fake Social Security Numbers (SSNs), including SSNs of deceased individuals, and the use of false phone numbers. Many applications listed the same physical address. In fact, 100 addresses were listed on over 19,000 forms, and many parole applicants applied from a single property (including a mobile park home, warehouse, and storage unit). In addition, many applications were submitted by the same IP address. If this weren’t bad enough, the same exact answers to Form I-134A questions were provided on hundreds of applications – in some instances, the same answer was used by over 10,000 applicants.
According to DHS sources, because of the alarming new information, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) decided to halt entry for those who applied under the program. It is unknown how many of the aliens seeking parole through CHNV and described in the report were approved for the benefit, and how the department adjudicated applications of sponsors who fabricated their applications. It also remains unclear if and how DHS is resolving the prevalence of fraud in the program.
Below is a summary of the findings of this internal DHS report obtained by FAIR:
- Form I-134A Filing Overview
The report summarized the results of a review USCIS performed on the CHNV sponsor application forms (Form I-134A) that were received as of April 17, 2024, totaling 2,622,076. The applications, which are submitted electronically, are not assessed by typical adjudicators but rather, are reviewed by personnel who simply deem the application sufficient. According to the report, of the total 2.6 million received, nearly 529,000 applications were “confirmed” (or approved) and around 118,000 were “not confirmed” (or denied).
- Reoccurring Information in Data Fields on Form I-134A
• IP Addresses
The report reveals that the 100 IP addresses accounted for 51,133 of the Form I-134A applications submitted. In one example, an IP address located in Tijuana, Mexico, was used 1,328 times. The report states that, on average, each IP address associated with these programs submitted 2.2 application forms.
• Sponsors’ Social Security Numbers (SSN)
The internal report found that a total of 100,948 forms had been filed by 3,218 different serial sponsors. It also notes that sponsors often did not provide their income (even though the sponsor is financially required to support the alien). Sponsors that did provide their incomes “often [did] not meet the financial threshold to support the number of parolees they intend to sponsor.” The report also highlights that applicants used SSNs of deceased individuals, and states that “24 of the 1,000 most used sponsor SSNs belong to a deceased individual.”
• Sponsor and Parolee Phone Number
The review found that phone numbers submitted on I-134A application forms were used many times. In fact, the report states that “One sponsor phone number was reported on over 2,000 forms submitted by 200 different sponsors.” Further, “[o]ne parolee phone number was reported on 626 different forms and was associated with 238 different parolee last names and 142 different parolee addresses.”
• Sponsor and Parolee Email Addresses
DHS also found that sponsors filled out multiple forms for multiple aliens seeking parole. According to the report, the most frequently used sponsor e-mail address was listed on 363 different forms. Further, the most frequently used parolee e-mail address was listed on 1,723 different forms collectively submitted by 477 different sponsors.
• Repetitive Text Field
The Department scrutinized answers to questions on the I-134A form to determine how often the answers reoccurred verbatim and found that the exact same responses were used over and over. In one instance, the same answer was used 4,978 times, while a slightly different variation of the answer (using “she” versus “he”) was used 2,837 times, and another slightly different variation of the answer (using “the”) was used another 2,557 times.
- Suspicious Data Changes
According to the internal report, sponsors used USCIS’s own online service to log into their accounts and change their names or the names of the prospective parolees. The report states that in some instances, the account holder changes were “concerning.”
- Using Fictitious Information to Support the Form
The report discusses at length that data provided by sponsors and parolees on the application Form I-134A were fictitious. The data reviewed included zip codes, phone numbers, A-files and Social Security Numbers.
First, DHS examined various databases, including the US Postal Service, and found that 465 zip codes did not exist. The report states, “In total there are 2,839 forms with non-existent physical zip codes. A cursory review found obvious application errors, as well as potential fraud and eligibility concerns that warrant closer examination.”
Second, DHS researched areas codes and compared the data on the forms “to determine if sponsors were submitting real phone numbers.” The report found that, in total, sponsors submitted 1,908 applications using 3,264 phone numbers (including mobile phone numbers and other daytime phone numbers) that appeared fictitious (not listed in official databases). Some phone numbers were not standardized U.S. phone numbers; some were unique and some were eleven digits long – and used more than once.
Third, the report discusses how the internal review found that A-file numbers – a unique number assigned to each alien’s immigration file — used in many applications were false. DHS found that a total of 1,085 A-numbers submitted in applications were never issued by USCIS. These 1,085 A-numbers appear on 4,590 forms. According to the report, one fake A-file number was used on 353 different forms.
Fourth, the report highlights the use of fraudulent Social Security Numbers (SSN). The report shows that aliens often used similar SSNs – such as “111111111” or “123456789” or “666666666” – proving that fraudulent data was being brazenly provided to the government.
- Other Concerning Trends and Patterns
First, the government report discusses the high occurrence of underage or gender-based filings, and says that “a select few IP addresses had a high female to male parolee ratio (86%).” In other words, many forms were being filled out by in by the same internet user, and many of those females were under the age of 18.
Second, and more shockingly, the report discusses how physical addresses were used over and over. It states there were 100 addresses used between 124 and 739 times on unique forms – and these 100 addresses were associated with 19,062 forms. The properties associated with the addresses on the forms include mobile home parks, warehouses, storage units, apartment complexes and commercial properties. The review found that 739 forms used the address from a single mobile home park, another 596 were attributable to a single warehouse, and 501 had an address to a storage unit.
Background on CHNV
In October 2022, the Department of Homeland Security announced the implementation of a categorical parole program to allow otherwise inadmissible aliens (and their immediate family members) from Venezuela to apply for immigration parole and be released into the United States. This program was expanded in January 2023 to include Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans. According to DHS, qualified aliens who are outside the United States and lack U.S. entry documents may be considered for advanced authorization to travel to the United States. Aliens may qualify if they have a supporter in the United States who agrees to provide them with financial support for the duration of their parole in the United States. To apply, the U.S. based supporter would apply to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and file a Form I-134A, Online Request to be a Supporter and Declaration of Financial Support for each alien they seek to support, including minor children. DHS says that they will “review the supporter information provided in the Form I-134A to ensure that they are able to financially support the beneficiaries they are agreeing to support.”
The chart below includes all “confirmed” CHNV beneficiaries between October 2022 and March 2024, totaling 494,799 individuals:
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Watch FAIR’s President, Dan Stein, discuss the fraud discovered in the CHNV parole program on Fox News: