FBI audit shows name checks delay detecting security threats
June 9th, 2008, 5:10 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Amy Taxin
A federal audit released today shows that cumbersome FBI name checks conducted for U.S. citizenship applications are often delayed to the point where they slow the government’s ability to assess national security threats.
According to the report, the FBI received
4 million requests for name checks —
more than half from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees citizenship applications – in the 2007 fiscal year. The FBI was able to run
86 percent of the checks within 60 days. As of March 2008, the agency had
110,000 checks pending more than a year.
The report — conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General — states that the backlog “causes delays in the DHS’s efforts to assess potential national security threats residing in the United States and adjudicate applicants’ requests for immigration benefits.”
U.S. citizenship applicants have complained that the name checks tie up their filings for months and sometimes years. In response, immigrant rights groups and the ACLU have sued the federal government in district courts across the country — including Santa Ana — in the hopes of getting a resolution to these applications.
To read the full report, click here http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/reports/FBI/a0824/final.pdf
