A top immigration official in the Biden administration faced pointed scrutiny at a hearing Wednesday.
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement held the oversight hearing examining U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency responsible for processing immigration applications.
“During the Biden Presidency, America has suffered an illegal mass migration on a scale never seen in recorded history,” Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., said at the hearing.
The lawmakers raised concerns about waste and abuse at the agency as well as the southern border crisis that has allowed millions of illegal immigrants to enter the U.S. since Biden took office with only a small fraction deported.
The application and adjudication process for migrants is notoriously backlogged, with many immigrants waiting years for court dates only to never show up. The separate Executive Office for Immigration Review handles the adjudication of requests.
The hearing gave Republicans an opportunity to address frustrations with many of the processes of the immigration system that have gummed it up and made it easier for illegal immigrants to enter and stay in the U.S.
In particular, Republicans took issue with the CHNV Parole Program, which has expanded under Biden to let tens of thousands of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela be paroled in the U.S. per month.
“The Biden Parole Program allows non-US Citizens to be sponsors of non-US Citizens? MAKE IT MAKE SENSE,” Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, posted to X. “This is the left’s motto: When something is illegal just make legal.”
Ur Jaddou, director of the federal immigration agency, in her written testimony acknowledged backlogs but defended the agency.
“I am incredibly proud of how far we have come since I joined USCIS as Director in August 2021,” Jaddou said. “In 2020, in the midst of COVID, our agency was rocked by a fiscal crisis which resulted in a hiring freeze, the termination of critical support contracts, and the issuance of furlough notices to 70 percent of our federal workforce. These drastic cuts led to the worst backlog in USCIS history.”
