The Biden administration may restart an asylum program that fell victim to “mass fraud,” even as thousands of potentially fraudulent uses of the program are still under review.
A program that allows migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to apply for entry and temporary work authorization could be revived by the Biden administration as early as this week, despite the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) finding that thousands of applications filed under the program have been fraudulent, according to a report from NBC News.
The program, which was launched last year, was “temporarily paused” last month to allow DHS to conduct “a review of supporter applications” of sponsors who legally reside in the U.S. and pledge their financial support to migrants to come live in the United States.
But an internal DHS report that was reviewed by NBC News found that of the roughly 101,000 sponsor applications filed under the program, 3,218 were filed by “serial sponsors,” or individuals who were using the same street address, IP addresses or phone numbers on the applications.
President Biden (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In one example in the review, which was produced by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a division of DHS, almost 600 applications were flagged because they appeared to use the address of a commercial warehouse in Orlando, Florida. The review also found examples of repeated uses of the same Social Security numbers, including some that belonged to dead people.
While the report does not say how many of the applicants that were sponsored were able to enter the U.S., the report notes that having a small number of sponsors for large groups of people has in the past raised concerns of human trafficking.
Nevertheless, the administration is hoping to get the program running again as quickly as possible because officials believe its availability helps deter migrants from the four countries from attempting to cross the U.S. border illegally, the report said, citing an official familiar with the decision.
But the decision also comes as about 30,000 applications that were filed before the program pause are still in need of review, a number of reviews that is unlikely to be completed before the program is revived.
Migrants try to cross the border between Piedras Negras and Eagle Pass, in Piedras Negras, Mexico on Aug. 4, 2023. (David Peinado Romero/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
USCIS triggered the review in April after an internal fraud detection unit conducted a “filing trend analysis” that turned up red flags in thousands of applications, spurring fears that many were potentially fraudulent. However, it is unclear how many of those potentially fraudulent applications were ultimately approved.
In another example, the review found a “concerning trend” from nine IP addresses that were sponsoring many more women than men, including one IP address that was linked to applications to sponsor 18 females, 14 of whom were under the age of 18.
Migrants walk along a highway in southern Mexico, July 21, 2024, during their journey north toward the U.S. border. (AP Photo/Edgar H. Clemente)
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According to the report, a U.S. government official told NBC News that the revived program will see sponsors vetted in small batches under an enhanced procedure, with any sponsor believed to be involved in fraud being turned over for investigation.
Neither the White House nor DHS immediately responded to Fox News Digital requests for comment.