Immigration Benefits
Eleventh Report Required by the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998 Gao ID: GAO-04-1030R August 13, 2004This 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 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. This is our eleventh report.
Through June 30, 2004, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), formerly part of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), had received a total of 38,548 HRIFA applications and had approved 11,917 of these applications. The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) had 1,418 applications filed and had approved 454 of them.
GAO-04-1030R, Immigration Benefits: Eleventh Report Required by the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998
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August 13, 2004:
The Honorable Ted Stevens:
Chairman:
The Honorable Robert C. Byrd:
Ranking Minority Member:
Committee on Appropriations:
United States Senate:
The Honorable Orrin G. Hatch:
Chairman:
The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy:
Ranking Minority Member:
Committee on the Judiciary:
United States Senate:
The Honorable C. W. Bill Young:
Chairman:
The Honorable David R. 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: Eleventh 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[Footnote 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 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 eleventh report.[Footnote 2]
RESULTS IN BRIEF:
Through June 30, 2004, United States Citizenship and Immigration
Services (USCIS), formerly part of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS), had received a total of 38,548 HRIFA applications and
had approved 11,917 of these applications.[Footnote 3] The Executive
Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) had 1,418 applications filed and
had approved 454 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 examiners. 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 to be
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
System (CLAIMS).
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.[Footnote 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.[Footnote 5]
HRIFA APPLICATIONS RECEIVED AND APPROVED BY USCIS:
Through June 30, 2004, USCIS data showed that it had received 38,548
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 June 30, 2004, USCIS had
approved 11,917 applications for adjustment of status under HRIFA.
Table 1: HRIFA Applications and Categories of Applications Received and
Approved by USCIS, through June 30, 2004:
Principal or dependent: Principal;
Category of applicant: Asylum;
Number of applications in CLAIMS: 17,325;
Number of applications approved: 6,228.
Principal or dependent: Principal;
Category of applicant: Parolee;
Number of applications in CLAIMS: 8,902;
Number of applications approved: 2,744.
Principal or dependent: Principal;
Category of applicant: Child without parents;
Number of applications in CLAIMS: 1,228;
Number of applications approved: 138.
Principal or dependent: Principal;
Category of applicant: Orphaned child;
Number of applications in CLAIMS: 240;
Number of applications approved: 26.
Principal or dependent: Principal;
Category of applicant: Abandoned child;
Number of applications in CLAIMS: 481;
Number of applications approved: 28.
Principal or dependent: Dependent;
Category of applicant: Spouse;
Number of applications in CLAIMS: 3,532;
Number of applications approved: 829.
Principal or dependent: Dependent;
Category of applicant: Child;
Number of applications in CLAIMS: 6,487;
Number of applications approved: 1,841.
Principal or dependent: Dependent;
Category of applicant: Unmarried son or daughter;
Number of applications in CLAIMS: 353;
Number of applications approved: 83.
Total;
Number of applications in CLAIMS: 38,548;
Number of applications approved: 11,917.
Source: USCIS data.
[End of table]
HRIFA APPLICATIONS FILED WITH AND APPROVED BY EOIR:
Through June 30, 2004, EOIR data from ANSIR showed that 1,418 HRIFA
applications had been filed with EOIR, of which 454 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 June 30, 2004:
Principal or dependent: Principal;
Category of applicant: Asylum;
Number of applications in ANSIR: 794;
Number of applications approved: 242.
Principal or dependent: Principal;
Category of applicant: Parolee;
Number of applications in ANSIR: 353;
Number of applications approved: 109.
Principal or dependent: Principal;
Category of applicant: Child without parents;
Number of applications in ANSIR: 72;
Number of applications approved: 27.
Principal or dependent: Principal;
Category of applicant: Orphaned child;
Number of applications in ANSIR: 10;
Number of applications approved: 5.
Principal or dependent: Principal;
Category of applicant: Abandoned child;
Number of applications in ANSIR: 10;
Number of applications approved: 4.
Principal or dependent: Dependent;
Category of applicant: Spouse;
Number of applications in ANSIR: 118;
Number of applications approved: 43.
Principal or dependent: Dependent;
Category of applicant: Child;
Number of applications in ANSIR: 52;
Number of applications approved: 19.
Principal or dependent: Dependent;
Category of applicant: Unmarried son or daughter;
Number of applications in ANSIR: 9;
Number of applications approved: 5.
Total;
Number of applications in ANSIR: 1,418;
Number of applications approved: 454.
Source: EOIR data.
[End of table]
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 between June and August 2004, 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. The Departments had no comments on
this 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 Tanya Cruz.
Signed by:
Laurie E. Ekstrand:
Director, Homeland Security and Justice Issues:
(440340):
FOOTNOTES
[1] P.L. 105-277, 112 Stat. 2681-538.
[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 Refugee 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.: April
21, 2003); (10) Immigration Benefits: Tenth Report Required by the
Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, GAO-04-189R
(Washington, D.C.: October 17, 2003).
[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.
[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 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. Finalized
regulations implementing these changes to HRIFA went into effect on
June 4, 2002.
