Homeland Security Poll: US Favors Immigration Over Protection

Just over half of immigration officials polled in 2011 by the Department of Homeland Security said the White House was focused more heavily on promoting immigration than protecting the United States, reports CNSNews.com.

Officials with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) “have been required to approve specific cases against their will,” pushing through paperwork “containing suspect information,” reads a January 2012 report on the survey.

“Whistleblowers have been complaining for several years that leadership in Washington, D.C., and immediate supervisors were placing inappropriate pressure on immigration adjudicators to simply find a way to approve [immigration] benefits,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, in a statement released Jan. 6.

Grassley, who requested the Homeland Security investigation, had accused USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas of “fostering an environment that pressures employees to approve as many applications as possible” and allowing “retaliation against those who dissent.”

The report said USCIS has taken important steps to improve security, but that it has much room for improvement. It suggests the agency greatly reduce its daily case load in the interest of national security.