Immigration Benefits: Sixteenth Report Required by the Haitian
Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998 (27-APR-07,
GAO-07-796R).
This report responds to certain requirements of the Haitian
Refugee Immigration Fairness Act (HRIFA) of 1998 that authorized
certain Haitian nationals and their dependents to apply to adjust
their status to lawful 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 lawful 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 GAO's sixteenth report.
-------------------------Indexing Terms-------------------------
REPORTNUM: GAO-07-796R
ACCNO: A68852
TITLE: Immigration Benefits: Sixteenth Report Required by the
Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998
DATE: 04/27/2007
SUBJECT: Children
Homeland security
Immigration
Immigration and naturalization law
Immigration information systems
Naturalization
Program evaluation
Refugees
Statistical data
Immigrants
EOIR Automated Nationwide System for
Immigration Review
INS Computer Linked Application
Information Management System
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GAO-07-796R
April 27, 2007
The Honorable Robert C. Byrd
Chairman
The Honorable Thad Cochran
Ranking Member
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy
Chairman
The Honorable Arlen Specter
Ranking Member
Committee on the Judiciary
United States Senate
The Honorable Dave Obey
Chairman
The Honorable Jerry Lewis
Ranking Member
Committee on Appropriations
House of Representatives
The Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
Chairman
The Honorable Lamar S. Smith
Ranking Member
Committee on the Judiciary
House of Representatives
Subject: Immigration Benefits: SixteenthReport 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 lawful
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 lawful 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 sixteenth report.^2
1 Pub. L. No. 105-277, tit. IX, 112 Stat. 2681-538.
Results in Brief
Through March 31, 2007, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS),
formerly part of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), had
received a total of 40,844 HRIFA applications and had approved 17,538 of
these applications.^3 The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR)
had 2,020 applications filed and had approved 797 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 USCIS'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 USCIS adjudication officers. An application may be
adjudicated at the service center or in a USCIS 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 USCIS officials. If an interview is required
or other issues need to be resolved, the application is forwarded to the
appropriate USCIS district, where the applicant can be interviewed and the
application adjudicated. Data on Haitian applicants are to be entered in
USCIS's Computer Linked Application Information Management System
(CLAIMS).
^2 The previous reports were (1) GAO, 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 Immigration Fairness Act of 1998,
GAO-03-240R (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 22, 2002); (9) Immigration Benefits:
Ninth Report Required by the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of
1998, GAO-03-681R (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 21, 2003); (10) Immigration
Benefits: Tenth Report Required by the Haitian Refugee Immigration
Fairness Act of 1998, GAO-04-189R (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 17, 2003); (11)
Immigration Benefits: Eleventh Report Required by the Haitian Refugee
Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, GAO-04-1030R (Washington, D.C.: Aug. 13,
2004); (12) Immigration Benefits: Twelfth Report Required by the Haitian
Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, GAO-05-481R (Washington, D.C.:
Apr. 14, 2005), (13) Immigration Benefits: Thirteenth Report Required by
the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, GAO-06-122R
(Washington, D.C.: Oct. 21, 2005), (14) Immigration Benefits: Fourteenth
Report Required by the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998,
GAO-06-589R (Washington, D.C.: April 21, 2006); and (15) Immigration
Benefits: Fifteenth Report Required by the Haitian Refugee Immigration
Fairness Act of 1998, GAO-07-168R (Washington, D.C.: November 9, 2006).
^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 USCIS.
Haitian nationals who are eligible for HRIFA should file their
applications with EOIR rather than USCIS 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 USCIS.^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 to file an application for
adjustment of status under HRIFA was March 31, 2000. Dependents of
principal applicants have no application deadline.^5
HRIFA Applications Received and Approved by USCIS
Through March 31, 2007, USCIS data showed that it had received 40,844
HRIFA applications at its Nebraska Service Center, all of which had been
entered into CLAIMS.^6 The categories and numbers of these applicants are
shown in table 1. Through March 31, 2007, USCIS had approved 17,538
applications for adjustment of status under HRIFA.
^4 EOIR was not transferred to the Department of Homeland Security and
remains part of the Department of Justice.
^5 The Legal Immigration and Family Equity Act (title XI of Pub. L. No.
106-553, as amended by title XV of Pub. L. No. 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. Regulations
implementing these changes to HRIFA went into effect on May 31, 2001, and
motions to reopen immigration court proceedings for aliens made eligible
for HRIFA benefits by these changes had to be filed by June 19, 2001.
^6 Although March 31, 2000, was the application deadline for principals to
file applications for adjustment of status under HRIFA, there have
continued to be slight increases in CLAIMS in the number of principal
applicants. According to USCIS, CLAIMS data may be adjusted for various
reasons. For example, USCIS may determine that a principal's application
was rejected in error during the filing period that ended on March 31,
2000; or, a principal may have submitted the application to a field
office, and the application may not have been correctly routed to the
Nebraska Service Center. As USCIS becomes aware of such cases, it enters
them into CLAIMS.
Table 1: HRIFA Applications and Categories of Applications Received and
Approved by USCIS, through March 31, 2007
Principal or Category of Number of applications Number of
in CLAIMS applications approved
dependent applicant
Principal Asylum 17,344 7,174
Principal Parolee 8,904 3,037
Principal Child without 1,230 164
parents
Principal Orphaned child 240 35
Principal Abandoned child 481 42
Dependent Spouse 3,864 1,485
Dependent Child 8,343 5,493
Dependent Unmarried son or 438 108
daughter
Total 40,844 17,538
Source: USCIS data.
HRIFA Applications Filed with and Approved by EOIR
Through March 31, 2007, EOIR data from ANSIR showed that 2,020 HRIFA
applications had been filed with EOIR, of which 797 had been approved for
adjustment of status.^7 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, 2007
Principal or Category of Number of applications Number of
in ANSIR applications approved
dependent applicant
Principal Asylum 1,113 426
Principal Parolee 478 178
Principal Child without 105 43
parents
Principal Orphaned child 16 6
Principal Abandoned child 23 11
Dependent Spouse 184 86
Dependent Child 83 38
Dependent Unmarried son or 18 9
daughter
Total 2,020 797
Source: EOIR data.
Objectives, Scope, and Methodology
Our objectives for this report were to determine (1) the number and
categories of applicants who filed applications with USCIS or EOIR and (2)
the number and categories of applicants whose applications were approved
by USCIS or EOIR. To attain these objectives, we relied on USCIS and EOIR
to provide us with data from their CLAIMS and ANSIR systems, respectively,
on applicants and the number of approvals. We assessed the reliability of
the data by reviewing existing information about the data and the system
that produced them, and we questioned agency officials knowledgeable about
the data. We determined that the data were sufficiently reliable for the
purposes of this report. We conducted our work in April 2007, in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
^7 Principal applicants who filed an initial application for benefits with
the Immigration and Naturalization Service on or before the filing
deadline of March 31, 2000, may renew their application for HRIFA benefits
with EOIR even after the deadline. Such cases, which would be entered into
ANSIR when the application is renewed before EOIR, account for increases
in the total number of principal applicants over time.
We provided the Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security (DHS)
with a draft of this report for comment. DOJ and DHS 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 contributors to this
assignment were Evi Rezmovic and R.E. Canjar.
Richard M. Stana
Director, Homeland Security and Justice Issues
(440609)
*** End of document. ***