Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee grilled Ur Jaddou US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)On Wednesday, he blasted his leadership and the Biden administration for running a “fraud-ridden” mass illegal immigration and humanitarian parole program.
USCIS is a federal agency meant to oversee legal immigration to the US
“You absolutely blew it,” Texas Rep. Troy Nehls Jaddoo said.
“The American people are sick and tired, and you should all be fired. You soon will be because the American people said, ‘We’re not going to put up with this anymore,'” he said.
Biden Calls USCIS Nominee For Freezing Border Patrol Funding
Ur Jaddou is the head of US Citizenship and Immigration Services. (Voice of America)
Rep. Tom McClintock, Chief Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and EnforcementJuddow also took a dig at him, saying: “If anyone is wondering why real wages for working families have fallen under this administration, look no further than the agency before us today.”
“Our subcommittee,” he continued, “in millions of cases, immigrants who entered the country illegally are not even given credible fear interviews before they are released into the country. How do you explain that?”
Jaddou tried to explain that USCIS, which gets its funding primarily from applicant fees, is underfunded.
McClintock responded that “those fees are high enough to conduct those interviews until we open our borders and under your administration, they are not.”
Border Patrol chief thrilled by Trump pick for border czar after Biden-era crisis: ‘I’m excited’
Texas National Guard troops watch over 1,000 migrants who crossed the Rio Grande overnight from Mexico in Eagle Pass, Texas on December 18, 2023. (John Moore/Getty Images)
The President took up a specific issue Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans’ parole program — known as CHNV — was used to allow more than 530,000 immigrants from those countries into the U.S., according to the subcommittee’s November report.
The CHNV program was launched by the Biden administration in January 2023 and allows 30,000 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter the US each month. It was Temporarily paused By administration in July due to fraud concerns but then reinstated just weeks later.
“They obtained parole authority that required case-by-case review of individual emergencies to grant temporary admission to the United States and converted the fraudulent, mass admissions of half a million Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans. Up to 1,000 a day,” McClintock said.
A Haitian immigrant approved for humanitarian parole cheers as he boards a bus taking immigrants to the U.S. at the Senda de Vida shelter on August 30, 2022 in Reynosa, Mexico. (Michael Nigro/Getty Images)
McClintock criticized USCIS for not properly vetting CHNV sponsors and allowing immigrants to sponsor each other.
“Literally one parolee can immediately arrive in this country, get indefinite status, and then sign up as a sponsor for the next one. This is illegal chain immigration on steroids, made possible by an agency willing to bend and ignore the law,” he said. .
Pressed further through Ohio Representative Jim JordanJaddou acknowledged that the program allows migrants to sponsor other migrants. He said 86% of CHNV parole sponsors are US citizens and legal residents, leaving questions about the other 14%.
Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs questioned Jaddou about widespread abuse of the CHNV program by immigrants, citing hundreds and thousands of instances of the same Social Security number, email, zip code and responses being used on multiple sponsor applications.
“This program is riddled with fraud,” Biggs said, “The fraud is rampant. You shut down the program, but you didn’t fix it. It’s still going on.”
A migration flight from Texas to Chicago will take off on December 19, 2023. (Governor Greg Abbott)
Click here to get the Fox News app
“You know how the left says you reduce illegal immigration? It’s really simple. You legalize illegal immigration,” said Texas Representative Wesley Hunt.
“Biden is upset that the American people are complaining about the increase in illegal immigration numbers at the border,” he said. “So what did Biden do? He legalized illegal immigration by expanding the intended use of parole to suit his needs.”
Throughout the hearing, Jaddou maintained that his agency was effectively performing its duties, including the CHNV program, which he said was “just one piece” of a “complete border management strategy.”
“It can’t work alone,” he said. “Enforcement measures cannot act alone if we want to survive long-term, and that is why this process is so important.”
