WASHINGTON, D.C. — House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN), Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement Chairman Clay Higgins (R-LA), and Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability Chairman Dan Bishop (R-NC) have sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding answers on the massive fraud that caused the Department to pause travel authorizations as part of its unlawful mass-parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV). According to a shocking report from Fox News’ Adam Shaw, travel authorizations for the program were paused after substantial fraud was discovered among those applying to sponsor inadmissible aliens seeking entry. Read the full letter here and excerpts below.

Read more from Adam Shaw via Fox News

In the letter, the Chairmen state, “According to an internal report obtained by a public interest organization, a Department investigation recently revealed large amounts of fraud among applications for prospective sponsors in the CHNV program. Last week, a Department spokesperson confirmed that “DHS has temporarily paused the issuance of advanced travel authorizations for new beneficiaries while it undertakes a review of supporter applications.”

The Chairmen continue, “Reportedly, the Department’s internal investigation found that 100 physical addresses were listed for parole sponsors on unique application forms with each address appearing between 124 and 739 times each, accounting for over 19,000 total forms. The internal investigation also purportedly reveals that 2,839 sponsor forms contained non-existent zip codes and 4,590 forms were filled out with Alien file numbers that had never been issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Additionally, the report concluded that 100,948 forms had been filled out by 3,218 serial sponsors (sponsors who appeared on 20 or more forms).”

The Chairmen conclude, “Pending the Department’s cooperation with our outstanding requests, the Committee will consider further actions to obtain information about the operations of the CHNV parole program, including but not limited to, pursuing transcribed interviews with the briefers and other Department employees.”

Background:

In his report, Shaw wrote, “The internal report found that forms from those applying for the program included social security numbers, addresses and phone numbers being used hundreds of times in some cases. … 100,948 forms were filled out by 3,218 serial sponsors—those whose number appears on 20 or more forms. It also found that 24 of the 1,000 most used numbers belonged to a dead person. Meanwhile, 100 physical addresses were used between 124 and 739 times on over 19,000 forms.”

The Immigration and Nationality Act allows parole to be granted only “on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.” Since the official announcement of the program in January 2023, however, through June 2024, nearly 500,000 inadmissible aliens have arrived at U.S. ports of entry via the CHNV program.

In April 2024, the Committee released documents obtained by subpoenaing DHS that identified over 50 airport locations, including the nation’s capital, where inadmissible aliens have been flown into the country and processed by DHS for release. Chairman Green subpoenaed DHS on August 22, 2023 and sent a follow-up letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in September 2023, demanding compliance with the Committee’s requests for critical data and information regarding the CHNV parole program. The Committee first requested this information on April 27, 2023.

According to produced documents, as of mid-October 2023, there were 1.6 million inadmissible aliens awaiting travel authorizations through the CHNV program. During a recent call with the department, DHS staff refused to provide an updated number of backlogged applications. In the documents, DHS admitted that none of these individuals have a legal basis to enter the country before being paroled through the program, stating, “All individuals paroled into the United States are, by definition, inadmissible, including those paroled under the CHNV Processes.”

In June, CIS released new documents regarding the CHNV program, revealing documents that show inadmissible aliens have been departed not just from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, but from more than 70 others worldwide, including Australia, Brazil, Egypt, Great Britain, Hong Kong, St. Lucia, and Sweden. Evidently, many who are making use of the Biden administration’s mass-parole program have settled comfortably in other nations and likely have no legitimate grounds for claiming protections within the United States.

In March 2024, a Haitian national who entered the country through the CHNV program, was arrested for aggravated rape of a 15-year-old girl in Rockland, Massachusetts.

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