However, September 11, 2001 profoundly affected our business operations, employees, and
stakeholders. New guidance was issued, security background checks were enhanced, and new
processes were implemented, including conducting interviews for the National Security Entry
Exit Registration System (NSEERS) Program
1
. Additionally, since July 2002, we formally
enhanced our security background checks on the processing of all immigration benefit
applications to ensure that those who receive immigration benefits have come to join the
people of the United States in building a better society and not to do us harm.
The process of performing enhanced security checks has been designed to compare
information on applicants, petitioners, beneficiaries, spouses and children and other household
members who apply for an immigration benefit against various Federal lookout systems.
Already, many applications were subject to fingerprint and background checks. The enhanced
check instituted in July 2002 represents an additional set of name checks against a variety of
lookout databases housed in the Interagency Border Inspection System (IBIS).
The purpose of conducting security checks is to help law enforcement agencies identify risks to
the community and/or to national security and to prevent ineligible individuals from obtaining
immigration benefits. On the vast majority of applications, we perform two checks; one when
the application is initially received, and one at the time of adjudication. Approximately 35
million security checks are performed annually.
In most of these cases (some 97%), the checks take only a few minutes. In the event of a “hit”,
however, we must hold that application without resolution until the security issue at hand is
resolved. Last fiscal year, we processed a little over six million immigration benefit
applications. Approximately 7% of the applications processed resulted in an initial security hit,
and after further scrutiny, 2% resulted in confirmed security or criminal threat matches.
This change in the way we process immigration benefit applications has meant higher
processing costs for USCIS because the costs of performing these checks were not factored
into the existing fee schedule. As a result, existing resources have been diverted to perform the
additional security checks until the fees could be adjusted to cover these costs. Although the
security enhancements have meant longer processing times in some categories and a significant
growth in the application backlog, USCIS has taken the position that security absolutely will
not be sacrificed in our search for increased efficiency. USCIS will continue to coordinate and
identify suspected benefit fraud cases and refer them to ICE for enforcement action.
Our intra-government coordination demonstrates that our approach realizes the intended
results. By way of example, within the last month our background check procedures identified
individuals wanted for murder in Portland and sexual assault in Miami. We are making
America safer against security and criminal threats, one background check at a time.
I believe that the President’s FY 2005 budget will set us on the right path toward enhancing
immigration services. The budget includes a total for USCIS of $1.711 billion, $140 million in
discretionary appropriated funds and $1.571 billion in fees, and seeks an additional $60 million
to boost the total dedicated to backlog reduction efforts to $160 million. Our overall goal is to
achieve a six-month processing time standard for all immigration benefit applications by FY
2006.
To ensure that our backlog does not increase further, we are currently seeking to adjust our fee
schedule through the regulatory process by recovering costs associated with comprehensive
security enhancements instituted after September 11, 2001. The annual cost of these security
enhancements are about $140 million or about $21 per application
stakeholders. New guidance was issued, security background checks were enhanced, and new
processes were implemented, including conducting interviews for the National Security Entry
Exit Registration System (NSEERS) Program
1
. Additionally, since July 2002, we formally
enhanced our security background checks on the processing of all immigration benefit
applications to ensure that those who receive immigration benefits have come to join the
people of the United States in building a better society and not to do us harm.
The process of performing enhanced security checks has been designed to compare
information on applicants, petitioners, beneficiaries, spouses and children and other household
members who apply for an immigration benefit against various Federal lookout systems.
Already, many applications were subject to fingerprint and background checks. The enhanced
check instituted in July 2002 represents an additional set of name checks against a variety of
lookout databases housed in the Interagency Border Inspection System (IBIS).
The purpose of conducting security checks is to help law enforcement agencies identify risks to
the community and/or to national security and to prevent ineligible individuals from obtaining
immigration benefits. On the vast majority of applications, we perform two checks; one when
the application is initially received, and one at the time of adjudication. Approximately 35
million security checks are performed annually.
In most of these cases (some 97%), the checks take only a few minutes. In the event of a “hit”,
however, we must hold that application without resolution until the security issue at hand is
resolved. Last fiscal year, we processed a little over six million immigration benefit
applications. Approximately 7% of the applications processed resulted in an initial security hit,
and after further scrutiny, 2% resulted in confirmed security or criminal threat matches.
This change in the way we process immigration benefit applications has meant higher
processing costs for USCIS because the costs of performing these checks were not factored
into the existing fee schedule. As a result, existing resources have been diverted to perform the
additional security checks until the fees could be adjusted to cover these costs. Although the
security enhancements have meant longer processing times in some categories and a significant
growth in the application backlog, USCIS has taken the position that security absolutely will
not be sacrificed in our search for increased efficiency. USCIS will continue to coordinate and
identify suspected benefit fraud cases and refer them to ICE for enforcement action.
Our intra-government coordination demonstrates that our approach realizes the intended
results. By way of example, within the last month our background check procedures identified
individuals wanted for murder in Portland and sexual assault in Miami. We are making
America safer against security and criminal threats, one background check at a time.
I believe that the President’s FY 2005 budget will set us on the right path toward enhancing
immigration services. The budget includes a total for USCIS of $1.711 billion, $140 million in
discretionary appropriated funds and $1.571 billion in fees, and seeks an additional $60 million
to boost the total dedicated to backlog reduction efforts to $160 million. Our overall goal is to
achieve a six-month processing time standard for all immigration benefit applications by FY
2006.
To ensure that our backlog does not increase further, we are currently seeking to adjust our fee
schedule through the regulatory process by recovering costs associated with comprehensive
security enhancements instituted after September 11, 2001. The annual cost of these security
enhancements are about $140 million or about $21 per application