Despite apparent fraud discovery, Biden-Harris admin to restart controversial immigration program

The Biden-Harris administration’s Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that it plans to restart one of its controversial immigration programs — referred to as CHNV — that was briefly paused after the discovery of rampant fraud.

The administration’s CHNV program allows 30,000 individuals per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to immigrate to the United States. Beneficiaries are flown into the country and provided with a two-year work permit.

'A massive shell game.'

Applicants must pass a vetting process and have a U.S.-based sponsor to be eligible for the program.

A report by the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate found fraud among the sponsors’ applications. Some sponsors used the same social security numbers, addresses, and phone numbers hundreds of times. Roughly 3,000 sponsors had filed more than 100,000 forms. The internal report found instances in which sponsors used phone numbers belonging to deceased individuals, addresses of storage units, and fake zip codes.

As a result, the DHS stated that it paused the program in mid-July “out of an abundance of caution.”

Approximately a month and a half later, the Biden-Harris administration has decided to restart the program, claiming that additional safeguards have been implemented.

A DHS spokesperson said it will conduct “additional vetting” of sponsors, including assigning two subagencies to investigate “financial records and criminal background.”

According to the spokesperson, most cases included errors or other application oversights, and only a small number of sponsors were responsible for committing fraudulent activity.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.), a strong critic of the “clearly flawed” program, slammed the administration for continuing the immigrant flights, which he views as illegal.

He accused the DHS of not “rooting out the fraud or putting adequate safeguards in place to prevent exploitation by sponsors.”

“It should come as no surprise that the Biden-Harris administration has rushed to restart its unlawful CHNV mass-parole scheme, despite the clear evidence of fraud permeating the program,” Green continued. “The CHNV program, along with the use of the CBP One app at the Southwest border, has helped the president and his border czar play a massive shell game, encouraging otherwise-inadmissible aliens to simply cross at ports of entry instead of between them.”

“But fundamentally, there would be no fraud to prevent if DHS simply stopped importing 30,000 inadmissible aliens every month in the first place,” Green added.

A DHS spokesperson reported that Border Patrol encountered 98% fewer illegal aliens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela since December 2022, the New York Post reported.

Green and National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd have called the Biden-Harris administration’s CHNV program a “bait and switch.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!