Posted on 06/17/2007 12:57:06 PM PDT by 3AngelaD
...Since 2005, the backlog of legal U.S. immigrants whose applications for naturalization and other benefits are stuck on hold awaiting FBI name checks has doubled to 329,160, prompting a flood of lawsuits in federal courts...
In his annual report to Congress last week, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) ombudsman Prakash I. Khatri called the backlog of FBI name checks "unacceptable from the standpoint of national security and immigration benefits processing." Calling the delays the "most pervasive problem" in processing, Khatri concluded that they "may increase the risk to national security by prolonging the time a potential criminal or terrorist remains in the country." He concluded that the agency should end or sharply narrow its use of name checks...
The backlog started growing after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when investigators determined that a failure to properly process immigration applications contributed to the hijackers' ability to enter and stay in the country. U.S. authorities responded by broadly expanding background checks.
FBI name checks were intensified after errors...led to the October 2002 naturalization of a man suspected of ties to Hezbollah, which is designated a terrorist group. A policy decision was made to check applicants' names not only against the list of individuals under investigation by the FBI but also against the list of those named in investigative files for any reason...
As a result, the FBI has fallen further behind on the 1.5 million new names it receives each year from USCIS. Of about 329,000 cases pending as of May, 64 percent were stalled for more than 90 days...The backlog appears likely to get worse, because a USCIS fee increase -- slated to take effect in July -- has prompted a 50 percent rise in new naturalization applications so far this year.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
This government is broken.
But gee, I thought that massive new DHS was going to fix all this!
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
In California when I wanted to buy a gun I had to pay a fee, have a NICS check, and put in a 10 day waiting period for every gun I wanted to purchase. The counties I lived in wouldn’t issue me a carry permit unless I was a celebrity of some sort or a corrupt Dim politician.
In Montana I recieved my concealed weapons permit within 7 days of applying. Now I can purchase a gun with no background check, no waiting period, and no fees or taxes. It’s called freedom and common sense.
This government is broken by intentional design, IMO.
The name checks for my mom, my stepdad and me took 6-9 months to clear, with no feedback at all from USCIS. Stepdad became a citizen last March, I did last month, and my mom will do so next Friday.
As for my uncle's wife... she's still waiting, not having been even cited for he interview.
“This government is broken.”
I’m going to throw this out for discussion. I’ve heard a number of times that some of the illegals somehow get (or give) phony Social Security Numbers to their employers.
Not going into where they get these numbers, I’m interested in what goes on when fake or phony SSNs are used.
How does it work?
Does the employer, in good faith, withhold the payroll taxes and send the taxes on to the Government? That would mean that the illegals are paying into Social Security, but will never draw on it. But more seriously, that would mean that our Federal government has volumes of data on payroll taxes being collected — for which no person is filing returns. That must be a very large sum of money. And it would be a simple thing to determine where these people work and do the deportations required.
Another possibility. Perhaps the employers KNOW which persons ARE illegal and that they don’t have REAL SS numbers. So the employers can simply pocket the payroll taxes, rather than send it on to the Government. This would mean that many employers are keeping double books, the real books, and the phony books, showing they are collecting taxes.
My point is: there is a lot of money to be gained or to be lost by this so-called immigration reform. I’m beginning to think that this is as big a corruption issue as Prohibition.........
If we only had a Executive Branch which would enforce our Federal laws — even at the level of reconciling the withholding taxes — we could make some progress in cleaning up this “money laundering scheme” — but alas we don’t.
You’ve hit on a very good point and I wish I knew the answer. I’ve heard that many of the SS numbers are duplicates or the SS numbers of deceased taxpayers.
You would think that in the first case that the legitimate tax payer would be audited for not reporting income, and that in the second case their would be an investigation into taxes coming in from a dead taxpayer.
I suspect that many employers know full well that the workers are illegal and simply pocket the money. In the case of the IRS I suspect they have some computer program that they run that tells them which are the likely bogus funds and they simply ignore the fraud and bag the money.
I think that the fraud and corruption involved on all sides of this will eventually rock this Republic right to its foundations. I think this is part of the reason for the desperation to pass this bogus amnesty, before anyone gets too much time to study the problem.
Just say NO to Illegal Alien Amnesty!! Keep calling!! Its NOT OVER!!
U.S. Senate switchboard: (202) 224-3121
U.S. House switchboard: (202) 225-3121
White House comments: (202) 456-1111
Find your House Rep.: http://www.house.gov/writerep
Find your US Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
"In 1996 the Internal Revenue Service created the Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN) to enable it to collect taxes from non-resident foreign investors who earned taxable income in the United States, but who were not legal permanent residents or citizens, and thus did not qualify for a Social Security number. In an apparent attempt to increase tax revenue through increased tax compliance, the agency decided also to allow illegal immigrants to obtain ITINs, and has actively promoted their use in cooperation with immigrant advocacy groups. Although the agency maintains the numbers are to be used only for the purpose of filing an income tax return, other entities, including some state motor vehicle agencies, banks, and mortgage lenders, began accepting the ITIN in lieu of customary forms of identification, for the explicit purpose of providing services to illegal aliens, who often lack conventional identification.
"Since 1996 the IRS has issued more than 7.3 million ITINs, of which only two to three million have ever been used on a tax return. A number of experts, including the Treasury Departments internal auditors, have raised concerns over the years about the ITIN, suggesting that the liberal ITIN issuance policy may be increasing the potential for fraud, enabling illegal immigrants to receive benefits to which they are not entitled, and creating law enforcement problems.
"The IRS has resisted pressure to cease issuing ITINs to illegal aliens, arguing that its top priority is to encourage tax compliance. This may be a result, but the practice apparently has not increased tax revenue, and so is of questionable value in fact the IRS has issued more in tax refunds and credits than it has collected in taxes from illegal aliens.
"The Treasury Departments auditors studied the use of ITINs in the tax year 2001. About 530,000 Form 1040s were filed that year by aliens not authorized to work and using ITINs. The total tax liability of these returns was $184 million, after deductions and credits on total taxes due of $495 million. More than half of the returns reported no tax liability, and $522 million in tax refunds were claimed on these returns. Typically, most of the tax collection from illegal aliens (and all taxpayers) occurs as a result of withholding by employers, not in voluntary tax filings. As one Arizona tax preparer put it, when ITIN-bearing tax filers learn that their bottom line will not be a refund, "they walk."
"More than half of the ITIN returns included W-2 forms listing someone elses Social Security number, and one in four of the individuals failed to report other wages and compensation for which they should have paid taxes.
I see. And no doubt the IRS doesn’t want to inform the employer that their roofer, Mrs. Edna Budinski, has been dead for 20 years. It would cut into “tax compliance”.
Now these jokers want give SS benefits to the newly legalized z-vistas, based on their contributions made under stolen SS numbers.
Oh, not to worry. Our government will simply create a "Bureau of Application Processing." See how simple it is?
"Prakash I. Khatri called the backlog of FBI name checks "unacceptable from the standpoint of national security and immigration benefits processing."...He concluded that the agency should end or sharply narrow its use of name checks..." His approach seems to be, we can't figure out how to do this, and do it right, so let's just not do it. Then we won't have to explain any more of these appalling failures.
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