Judith Miller reports on the corruption within and the dire consequences to national security.

Last year, FBI officials tell me, the Bureau worked on nearly 2,500 public corruption cases and convicted more than 700 dishonest public servants throughout the nation. Most of them were unrelated to the cartels, and Special Agent Abbott, of the FBI’s criminal branch in El Paso, says that only 15 to 30 of his region’s cases so far have involved drug-related corruption among law enforcement officials. “But given the damage that can be done by just one corrupt officer or inspector,” he adds, “this is an important vulnerability. We know it.”

Related: Crime and Corruption at the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services

Tasked to protect national security by keeping terrorists out, the USCIS’s responsibilities include granting visas, residency, and citizenship to law abiding foreign-born workers while balancing economic needs, and honouring America’s tradition as a nation of immigrants. But the USCIS’s checkered history is stained with bribery indictments.

For years federal employees have been caught taking bribes or demanding sexual favors from foreign nationals in exchange for processing their applications to live in America. And for every corrupt official arrested, how many stop taking bribes—temporarily? How many dubious foreign nationals already bribed their way in? There is no real way to measure and exploited foreigners are reluctant to report these crimes for fear of jeopardizing their American dream. All this flagrant corruption occurs in large part because the USCIS is overwhelmed by backlogs from immigrants following America’s laws stuck in the nonsensical and degrading bureaucracy. This is the madness called the USCIS. This is America’s immigration agency. Take a look.

U.S Citizenship & Immigration Services Blasts Journalist over Crime & Corruption Story: Journalist Fires Back

Amazingly [former USCIS Deputy Director] Aytes bolstered my reporting, perhaps unwittingly, when he stated how the “USCIS established the Office of Security and Integrity (OSI) in 2007. “In doing so,” Aytes wrote, “we tripled the resources dedicated to this critical mission…” because as his statement suggests the crime and corruption at the USCIS had to have reached such high levels that a new bureaucracy with resources tripled (my emphasis) was created to try to curb it. Read about OSI here.

While I appreciate how Aytes boosted my article’s thesis, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out something he declined to mention. Depending on who is bribing federal officials, be it someone linked to terrorism, or wanted for other crimes, such as murder or drug smuggling —other law enforcement agencies like the FBI, Terrorism Task Force or various district attorney offices’ valuable resources supplement the USCIS’ resources to combat the crime and corruption that originated out of USCIS.

Crime, Corruption and Incompetence at the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services Part II

March 7 provides yet another example of crime at this agency, this time illustrated by one Roy Bailey, “a former top immigration official in Detroit whose “outrageous conduct” involved taking free meals, landscaping services and casino chips in return for official favors.” Bailey… pled guilty “to defrauding the federal government, conspiracy to commit bribery, and failing to report a felony….” “Under Roy Bailey’s control, the immigration system… was starkly divided between those he favored and those he did not…” Court documents.

Although polls indicate that majority of Americans are in favor of legal immigration what they do not know and what some politicians and bureaucrats apparently do not want the public to know is following America’s immigration laws can be an exercise in futility.

Related posts:

1. U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services Blasts Journalist over Crime & Corruption Story: Journalist Fires Back
2. Crime and Corruption at the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services
3. Crime, Corruption and Incompetence at the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services Part II