Immigration Benefits: Seventh Report Required by the Haitian	 
Immigration Fairness Act of 1998 (18-APR-02, GAO-02-600R).	 
                                                                 
The Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act (HRIFA) of 1998	 
authorized certain Haitian nationals and their dependents to	 
apply to adjust their status to legal permanent residence.	 
Section 902(k) of the act requires the Comptroller General to	 
report every six months on the number of Haitian nationals who	 
have applied and been approved to adjust their status to legal	 
permanent residence. The reports are to contain a breakdown of	 
the numbers who applied and the number who were approved as	 
asylum applicants, parolees, children without parents, orphaned  
children, or abandoned children, and unmarried sons or daughters.
As of March 31, 2002, the Immigration and Naturalization Service 
had received a total of 36,420 HRIFA applications and had	 
approved 7,351 of these applications. The Executive Office for	 
Immigration Review had 198 applications filed and had approved 98
of them.							 
-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-02-600R					        
    ACCNO:   A03103						        
  TITLE:     Immigration Benefits: Seventh Report Required by the     
Haitian Immigration Fairness Act of 1998			 
     DATE:   04/18/2002 
  SUBJECT:   Dependents 					 
	     Immigrants 					 
	     Immigration and naturalization law 		 
	     Immigration information systems			 
	     Immigration or emigration				 
	     Naturalization					 
	     Reporting requirements				 
	     EIOR Automated Nationwide System for		 
	     Immigration Review 				 
                                                                 
	     INS Computer Linked Application			 
	     Information Management System			 
                                                                 

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GAO-02-600R
     
GAO- 02- 600R Immigration Benefits

United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548

April 18, 2002 The Honorable Robert C. Byrd Chairman The Honorable Ted
Stevens Ranking Minority Member Committee on Appropriations United States
Senate

The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy Chairman The Honorable Orrin G. Hatch Ranking
Minority Member Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate

The Honorable C. W. Bill Young Chairman The Honorable David Obey Ranking
Minority Member Committee on Appropriations House of Representatives

The Honorable F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. Chairman The Honorable John
Conyers, Jr. Ranking Minority Member Committee on the Judiciary House of
Representatives

Subject: Immigration Benefits: Seventh Report Required by the Haitian
Immigration Fairness Act of 1998

This report responds to certain requirements of the Haitian Refugee
Immigration Fairness Act (HRIFA) of 1998 1 that authorized certain Haitian
nationals and their dependents to apply to adjust their status to legal
permanent residence. Section 902( k) of the act requires the comptroller
general to report every 6 months on the number of Haitian nationals who have
applied and been approved to adjust their status to legal permanent
residence. The reports are to contain a breakdown of the

1 P. L. 105- 277, 112 Stat. 2681- 538.

GAO- 02- 600R Immigration Benefits Page 2 numbers who applied and the number
who were approved as asylum applicants,

parolees, children without parents, orphaned children, or abandoned
children; or as the eligible dependents of these applicants, including
spouses, children, and unmarried sons or daughters. Reports are to be
provided until all applications have been finally adjudicated. This is our
seventh report. 2

Results in Brief

As of March 31, 2002, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) had
received a total of 36,420 HRIFA applications and had approved 7,351 of
these applications. The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) had
198 applications filed and had approved 98 of them. Details on the
categories of the applicants and approvals are provided in this report.

Background

Haitian applicants are to send their applications to INS?s Nebraska Service
Center in Lincoln, Neb. INS?s contractor at the service center is
responsible for processing the applications up to the point of their
adjudication by INS examiners. An application may be adjudicated at the
service center or in the INS district with jurisdiction over the area where
the alien applicant resides. Generally, applications that are complete and
evidentially sufficient can be adjudicated at the service center, according
to INS officials. If an interview is required or other issues need to be
resolved, the application is to be forwarded to the appropriate INS district
where the applicant can be interviewed and the application adjudicated. Data
on Haitian applicants are to be entered in INS? Computer Linked Application
Information System (CLAIMS).

Haitian nationals who are eligible for HRIFA should file their applications
with EOIR rather than INS if they have (1) a proceeding pending before the
Immigration Court or the Board of Immigration Appeals, or (2) a pending
motion to reopen or reconsider filed on or before May 12, 1999. Thus,
Haitian nationals who are in deportation, exclusion, or removal proceedings,
and whose cases have not been administratively closed, are to file their
HRIFA application with EOIR, not INS. Data on Haitian applicants are to be
entered in EOIR?s case- tracking system, the Automated Nationwide System for
Immigration Review (ANSIR).

2 The previous reports were (1) U. S. General Accounting Office, Immigration
Benefits: Applications for Adjustment of Status Under the Haitian Refugee
Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, GAO/ GGD- 99- 92R, (Washington, D. C.:
Apr. 21, 1999); (2)

Immigration Benefits: Second Report Required by the Haitian Refugee
Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, GAO/ GGD- 00- 25R, (Washington, D. C.:
Oct. 19, 1999); (3) Immigration Benefits: Third Report Required by the
Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, GAO/ GGD- 00- 122R,
(Washington, D. C.: Apr. 14, 2000); (4) Immigration Benefits: Fourth Report
Required by the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, GAO- 01-
118R, (Washington, D. C.: Oct. 20, 2000); (5)

Immigration Benefits: Fifth Report Required by the Haitian Immigration
Fairness Act of 1998, GAO- 01- 651R, (Washington,

D. C.: Apr. 20, 2001); and (6) Immigration Benefits: Sixth Report Required
by the Haitian Immigration Fairness Act of 1998,

GAO- 02- 114R, (Washington, D. C.: Oct. 22, 2001).

GAO- 02- 600R Immigration Benefits Page 3 The deadline for principal
applicants filing an application for adjustment of status

under HRIFA was March 31, 2000. Dependents of principal applicants have no
application deadline. 3

HRIFA Applications Received by INS As of March 31, 2002, INS data showed
that INS had received 36,420 HRIFA applications at the Nebraska Service
Center, all of which had been entered into CLAIMS. The categories and
numbers of these applicants are shown in table 1. As of March 31, 2002, INS
had approved 7,351 applications for adjustment of status under HRIFA.

Table 1: HRIFA Applications and Categories of Applications Received and
Approved by INS, as of March 31, 2002

Principal or dependent

Category of applicant Number of applications in CLAIMS

Number of applications approved

Principal Asylum 17,306 4, 178 Principal Parolee 8, 896 1,693 Principal
Child without parents 1, 226 74 Principal Orphaned child 239 11 Principal
Abandoned child 480 13 Dependent Spouse 3, 128 491 Dependent Child 4,827 849
Dependent Unmarried son or daughter 318 42

Total 36,420 7, 351

Source: INS data.

HRIFA Applications Received by EOIR

As of March 31, 2002, EOIR data showed that 198 HRIFA applications had been
filed with EOIR, of which 98 had been approved for adjustment of status.
table 2 provides information on the categories and numbers of HRIFA
applicants and approvals.

Table 2: HRIFA Applications and Categories of Applications Received and
Approved By EOIR, as of March 31, 2002

Principal or dependent

Category of applicant Number of applications in CLAIMS

Number of applications approved

Principal Asylum 115 46 Principal Parolee 34 20 Principal Child without
parents 26 17 Principal Orphaned 4 3 Principal Abandoned child 2 2 Dependent
Spouse 11 5 Dependent Child 3 2 Dependent Unmarried son or daughter 3 3

Total 198 98

Source: EOIR data.

3 The Legal Immigration and Family Equity Act (title XI of P. L. 106- 553,
as amended by title XV of P. L. 106- 554) went into effect on December 21,
2000. This Act amended HRIFA to waive certain grounds of inadmissibility for
aliens applying for relief under HRIFA. Interim regulations implementing
these changes to HRIFA went into effect on May 31, 2001.

GAO- 02- 600R Immigration Benefits Page 4

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Our objectives for this report were to determine (1) the number and
categories of applicants who filed applications with INS or EOIR and (2) the
number and categories of applicants whose applications were approved by INS
or EOIR. To ATTAIN these objectives, we relied on INS and EOIR to provide us
with data on applicants and the number of approvals. We conducted our work
between March and April 2002, in accordance with generally accepted
government auditing standards.

We provided the Department of Justice with a draft of this report for
comment and received informal comments on April 16, 2002. In their verbal
comments, INS and EOIR agreed with the information in the report.

We are providing copies of this report to the, Attorney General and will
make copies available to others upon request. If you have any questions
about this report, please contact Evi L. Rezmovic or me at (202) 512- 8777.
The key contributor to this assignment was Anthony L. Hill.

Laurie E. Ekstrand Director, Justice Issues

(440117)
*** End of document. ***