U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service Corruption Promotes Rampant Immigration Fraud

By Michael Cutler

Yesterday's Washington Times story, about employees of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS) allegedly exchanging immigration benefits for sex and accepting bribes, should be of great concern to all of us. It fills me with anger, frustration and a feeling of betrayal. While I certainly believe that, as our system of justice provides, a person is innocent until proven guilty, the large number and severity of the allegations causes me to believe that their is a high probability that corruption has been involved. You know that I worked for the former INS for approximately 30 years, having begun my career with the INS as an Immigration Inspector assigned to John F. Kennedy International Airport in October 1971. In 1973 I volunteered to act as an examiner or adjudications officer assigned to the unit that was charged with the responsibility of determining if aliens should be granted resident alien status based on their marriages to either citizens of the United States or aliens who had, themselves, acquired resident alien status. The methodology was essentially simple; I would interview each spouse separately to determine if they were living together. In some cases, they were totally unprepared for the interview and the discrepancies were so glaring and obvious that it was readily apparent that they had engaged in a marriage fraud. My colleagues and I took great pride in the fact that we ran a highly ethical unit. To read about the corruption that is apparently running rampant outrages me as a citizen of the country and especially as a former INS official. I truly feel sorrow for the honest men and women who work for USCIS who will bear a heck of a burden for some time to come.

We need many more special agents to conduct investigations in support of the adjudications program to make certain that this critical area has meaningful integrity. I have made the statement at Congressional hearings as well as at public appearances that if it is the prospect of employment that draws the bulk of the illegal aliens currently present in our country across our nation's borders, it is through immigration benefit fraud that illegal aliens, including drug traffickers, gang members and terrorists are able to remain here and "hide in plain sight" or as the 911 Commission referred to it, "Embed themselves in our country."

Our nation needs thousands of new special agents who are properly trained, lead and motivated and provided with funding to do an effective job to restore at least a semblance of integrity to the interior enforcement mission especially in the area of immigration adjudications. If we do not do this, we are leaving the door open to future attacks by terrorists. We will also be leaving the door open, literally and figuratively to a wide variety of criminals such as drug traffickers and gang members. The clock is ticking and our supposed war on terrorism grinds on. Our nation has sent thousands of its young men and women in 'harms way' overseas to purportedly fight this war on terror. Yet up close an in person, our nation's borders have been written in invisible ink, and the system by which we confer various benefits upon aliens (up to and including resident alien status and United States citizenship) is being compromised by corrupt employees and an incompetent agency.

When I worked for the INS many of my colleagues and I used to joke (without humor) that the difference between the Titanic and the INS is that the Titanic had a band!

Is that an iceberg on the horizon?

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