Immigration Benefits: Ninth Report Required by the Haitian
Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998 (21-APR-03,
GAO-03-681R).
This report responds to certain requirements of the Haitain
Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998 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 number of Haitians 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.
-------------------------Indexing Terms-------------------------
REPORTNUM: GAO-03-681R
ACCNO: A06694
TITLE: Immigration Benefits: Ninth Report Required by the
Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998
DATE: 04/21/2003
SUBJECT: Dependents
Reporting requirements
Immigrants
Immigration and naturalization law
Immigration information systems
Immigration or emigration
Haiti
EOIR Automated Nationwide System for
Immigration Review
INS Computer Linked Application
Information System
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GAO-03-681R
Page 1 GAO- 03- 681R Immigration Benefits
April 21, 2003 The Honorable Ted Stevens Chairman The Honorable Robert C.
Byrd Ranking Member Committee on Appropriations United States Senate
The Honorable Orrin G. Hatch Chairman The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy
Ranking Member Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate
The Honorable C. W. Bill Young Chairman The Honorable David R. Obey
Ranking Member Committee on Appropriations House of Representatives
The Honorable F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. Chairman The Honorable John
Conyers, Jr. Ranking Member Committee on the Judiciary House of
Representatives
Subject: Immigration Benefits: Ninth Report Required by the Haitian
Refugee 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
1 P. L. 105- 277, 112 Stat. 2681- 538.
United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548
Page 2 GAO- 03- 681R Immigration Benefits
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 number of
Haitians 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 ninth report. 2 Through March 31, 2003, the Bureau of Citizenship
and Immigration
Services (BCIS), formerly part of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS), had received a total of 37,295 HRIFA applications and had
approved 9, 555 of these applications. 3 The Executive Office for
Immigration Review (EOIR) had 665 applications filed and had approved 183
of them. Details on the categories of the applicants and approvals are
provided in this report.
Haitian applicants are to send their applications to BCIS*s Nebraska
Service Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. A contractor at the service center is
responsible for processing the applications up to the point of their
adjudication by BCIS examiners. An application may be adjudicated at the
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); (6) Immigration Benefits: Sixth Report Required by the
Haitian Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, GAO- 02- 114R (Washington, D.
C.: Oct. 22, 2001); (7) Immigration Benefits: Seventh Report Required by
the Haitian Immigration Fairness Act of 1998,
GAO- 02- 600R (Washington, D. C.: Apr. 18, 2002); (8) Immigration
Benefits: Eighth Report Required by the Haitian Refugee Immigration
Fairness Act of 1998, GAO- 03- 240R (Washington, D. C.: Oct. 22, 2002).
3 On March 1, 2003, INS was transferred from the Department of Justice to
the Department of Homeland Security. Within Homeland Security, the
adjudication of HRIFA benefits is the responsibility of BCIS. Results in
Brief
Background
Page 3 GAO- 03- 681R Immigration Benefits
service center or in a BCIS 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 BCIS officials. If an interview is required or other issues need to be
resolved, the application is to be forwarded to the appropriate BCIS
district where the applicant can be interviewed and the application
adjudicated. Data on Haitian applicants are to be entered in BCIS*s
Computer Linked Application Information System (CLAIMS).
Haitian nationals who are eligible for HRIFA should file their
applications with EOIR rather than BCIS 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 BCIS. 4 Data on Haitian
applicants are to be entered in EOIR*s case- tracking system, the
Automated Nationwide System for Immigration Review (ANSIR).
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. 5 Through March 31, 2003, BCIS
data showed that it had received
37,295 HRIFA applications at its Nebraska Service Center, all of which had
been entered into CLAIMS. The categories and numbers of these applicants
are shown in table 1. Through March 31, 2003, BCIS had approved 9,555
applications for adjustment of status under HRIFA.
4 EOIR was not transferred to Homeland Security and remains part of the
Department of Justice. 5 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. HRIFA Applications
Received and Approved by BCIS
Page 4 GAO- 03- 681R Immigration Benefits
Table 1: HRIFA Applications and Categories of Applications Received and
Approved by BCIS, through March 31, 2003
Principal or dependent Category of applicant
Number of applications in CLAIMS
Number of applications
approved
Principal Asylum 17,318 5,320 Principal Parolee 8,898 2,271 Principal
Child without parents 1,228 92 Principal Orphaned child 240 18 Principal
Abandoned child 480 15 Dependent Spouse 3,317 624 Dependent Child 5,485
1,157 Dependent Unmarried son or
daughter 329 58
Total 37,295 9,555
Source: BCIS data.
Through March 31, 2003, EOIR data from ANSIR showed that 665 HRIFA
applications had been filed with EOIR, of which 183 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 Filed with and
Approved by EOIR, through March 31, 2003 Principal or dependent Category
of applicant
Number of applications in ANSIR
Number of applications
approved
Principal Asylum 463 104 Principal Parolee 106 34 Principal Child without
parents 34 19 Principal Orphaned 5 4 Principal Abandoned child 3 3
Dependent Spouse 34 11 Dependent Child 15 5 Dependent Unmarried son or
daughter 5 3
Total 665 183
Source: EOIR data.
Our objectives for this report were to determine (1) the number and
categories of applicants who filed applications with BCIS or EOIR and (2)
the number and categories of applicants whose applications were HRIFA
Applications
Filed with and Approved by EOIR
Objectives, Scope, and Methodology
Page 5 GAO- 03- 681R Immigration Benefits
approved by BCIS or EOIR. To attain these objectives, we relied on BCIS
and EOIR to provide us with data on applicants and the number of
approvals. We did not independently verify the data provided by BCIS or
EOIR. We conducted our work between March and April 2003, in accordance
with generally accepted government auditing standards.
We provided the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security with a draft
of this report for comment and received their informal comments on April
16, 2003. BCIS and EOIR had no comments on the report.
We are providing copies of this report to the Attorney General and the
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and will make copies
available to others upon request. If you have any questions about this
report, please contact me at (202) 512- 8777. The key contributor to this
assignment was Jay Jennings.
Laurie E. Ekstrand Director, Homeland Security
and Justice Issues
(440196)
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