Obama-to-Trump Transition: DHS 'Snafu' Gives Illegal Aliens Green Cards | Eastern North Carolina Now

    During the Trump vs. Clinton presidential race, upon returning from a trip to meet with leaders in Mexico, now President-elect Donald Trump said, "The truth is, our immigration system is worse than anyone realizes. But the facts aren't known because the media won't report on them, the politicians won't talk about them, and the special interests spend a lot of money trying to cover them up."

    However, thanks to the Obama administration's incompetence that's been observed repeatedly, upon taking office on Jan. 20, 2017, President Trump will face an immigration and homeland security behemoth gone berserk.

    For example, a report released by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General admits that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services problems experienced in the agency's so-called Green Cards issuance program are far worse than originally believed.

    The audit was conducted as a follow-up to a March 2016 report in which the DHS OIG revealed that the USCIS had sent hundreds of Green Cards to the wrong addresses.

    According to the Homeland Security News Wire, the USCIS produced at least 19,000 cards that included incorrect information or were issued in duplicate. Other "errors" included the over 2,400 immigrants, who were approved for 2-year conditional residence status, being accidentally issued cards with 10-year expiration dates.

    DHS OIG says that, in fact, the problem was far worse than originally thought. Over the last three years, USCIS produced at least 19,000 cards that included incorrect information or were issued in duplicate. Additional mistakes included over 2,400 immigrants approved for 2-year conditional residence status being inadvertently issued cards with 10-year expiration dates. The agency also received over 200,000 reports of cards potentially misdelivered, or not being delivered to approved applicants.

    The majority of the card issuance errors were due to the flawed design and functionality problems in the agency's Electronic Immigration System (ELIS). The delays and cost overruns of the ELIS system have been documented in previous OIG reports. Although USCIS conducted a number of efforts to recover the inappropriately issued and missing cards, its efforts to address the errors have been inadequate.

    "It appears that thousands of Green Cards have simply gone missing. In the wrong hands, Green Cards may enable terrorists, criminals, and undocumented aliens to remain in the United States," said Inspector General John Roth. "It is vital that USCIS ensure better tools and procedures are in place to mitigate such risks."

    But the Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson - who has been criticized by law enforcement officers as "an incompetent political hack" or "an empty suit" - hasn't even acknowledged such snafus during his watch.

    "Secretary Johnson is a lawyer who gave the Obama presidential campaign a pile of money and his appointment served Obama's interest in rewarding a friend while making certain the DHS's immigration offices screwed up and covered up as much as possible," said former drug enforcement officer Jack Warnake.

    "Hopefully the incoming administration will investigate what has gone on at the Homeland Security Department during Obama's eight years," Capt. Warnake said.