Fraud in the Refugee Family Reunification Program
Democracy, Human Rights, Refugees: Fraud in the Refugee Family Reunification (Priority Three) Program
Fact Sheet
Bureau of Population, Refugees, and
Migration
Washington, DC
December 4, 2008
Fraud in the Refugee Family Reunification (Priority Three) Program
Q: What is this program?
A: The
State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and
Migration (PRM) is responsible for coordinating and managing
the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). A critical part
of this responsibility is determining which individuals or
groups from among the millions of refugees worldwide will be
able to apply for refugee resettlement in the United
States.
There are currently three priorities or categories
of cases that have access to the U.S. Refugee Admissions
Program. Priority One and Two applicants are granted access
to the program through an individual referral by the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a U.S.
Embassy or qualified NGO, or by membership in a group of
cases designated as having access to the program by virtue
of their circumstances and apparent need for resettlement.
Priority Three, or P-3, refers to individual cases from
eligible nationalities who are granted access for purposes
of family reunification with certain legal residents in the
United States.
Qualifying for access to the U.S. Refugee
Admissions Program is only the first step in the process,
however. Officials of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Service (USCIS) in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
conduct an interview with all refugee applicants regardless
of priority, to determine if the individual is a refugee
under U.S. law, is not firmly resettled in another country
and is otherwise admissible to the United States.
Access
to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program based on family ties
has been available to various nationalities since the 1980s.
In recent years, more than 95% of the applications to the
P-3 program have been African – primarily Somalis,
Ethiopians and Liberians.
Q: Why did the US decide to
conduct DNA testing of some nationality groups applying for
resettlement in the US?
A: PRM and DHS/USCIS jointly
decided to test a sample of refugee cases due to reported
fraud in the P-3 program, particularly in Kenya.
This
pilot program later expanded to test applicants in other
parts of Africa. (See questions and answers below.)
Q:
What rate of fraud did you discover?
A: The rate of
fraud varied among nationalities and from country to
country, and is difficult to establish definitively as many
individuals refused to agree to DNA testing.
We were,
however, only able to confirm all claimed biological
relationships in fewer than 20% of cases (family units). In
the remaining cases, at least one negative result
(fraudulent relationship) was identified, or the individuals
refused to be tested.
Q: Which refugees are being
tested? From which countries?
A: We initially tested
a sample of some 500 refugees (primarily Somali and
Ethiopian) in Nairobi, Kenya under consideration for U.S.
resettlement through the P-3 program. After that sample
suggested high rates of fraud, we expanded testing to
Ethiopia, Uganda, Ghana, Guinea, Gambia and Cote d’Ivoire.
Most of the approximately 3,000 refugees tested are from
Somalia, Ethiopia, and Liberia, as these nationalities make
up the vast majority of P-3 cases.
It is important to
note that the initial DNA testing was limited to members of
families applying for the P-3 program, and not between the
applicants and the anchor relative in the United
States.
Q: What does the suspension entail? When did
resettlement in the US stop?
The State Department
halted most aspects of P-3 family reunification processing
in Kenya and Ethiopia in March, and in Uganda in May. In
these locations, all P-3 processing activities have been
suspended, including Overseas Processing Entity (OPE)
pre-screening and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service
(USCIS) interviews.
All cases that were approved by USCIS
prior to March 2008 in these three locations have been
offered the opportunity to undergo DNA testing of all
claimed biological relationships within the case. Travel to
the U.S. is proceeding only for those cases where DNA
evidence supports all claimed biological relationships, or
where there is no claimed biological relationship to test,
as in the case of a spouse.
In West Africa, the situation
is somewhat different due to the fact that PRM stopped
accepting Affidavits of Support (AORs) for Liberians on
September 30, 2006 and has committed to completing Liberian
P-3 processing as expeditiously as possible. P-3 processing
of Liberians in Ghana, Guinea, Gambia and Cote d’Ivoire
continues, but all USCIS-approved P-3 cases must agree to
undergo DNA testing of all claimed biological
relationships
P-3 processing continues for Affidavits of
Support (AORs) that were forwarded to the Overseas
Processing Entities (OPEs) in Bangkok, Cairo, Havana, Ho Chi
Minh City, Istanbul, Kathmandu, Moscow, and Vienna before
March 2008. (Note: most of these OPEs are regional and cover
processing in a number of surrounding countries.)
It is
important to remember that fewer than five percent of P-3
cases are processed outside Africa.
Q: Have you stopped
accepting applicants for the P-3 program?
A: We
stopped accepting all applications for the P-3 program on
October 22, 2008. The Departments of State and Homeland
Security, along with our resettlement agency partners, are
currently discussing the disposition of applications (other
than the small number that were forwarded overseas prior to
March 2008 as noted above) that were submitted earlier this
year.
Q: How does the Department plan to address the
fraud?
The Department is working closely with the
Department of Homeland Security to develop and implement new
procedures for verifying family relationship claims. These
new procedures will likely include DNA testing. The P-3
program in Africa remains suspended as noted above until we
have finalized and implemented these new measures.
Q:
What measures will be taken against the thousands of
refugees who have come into the United States through the
P-3 program in the last 20 years?
A: We refer you to
the Department of Homeland Security, which is responsible
for any actions taken on individuals who have already been
admitted as refugees under the P-3 program.
Q: Why did
you only conduct DNA testing in Africa?
A: We began
in Africa because African P-3s have accounted for more than
95% of P-3 refugee arrivals worldwide in recent years. In
addition, we received frequent reports and anecdotal
information that there was widespread fraud in the program
there.
Q: How many relatives of refugees or asylees
have come from Africa to the US via the P-3 program in
recent years?
A: Since October 1, 2003, some 36,000
people have arrived from Africa through the P-3
program.
Q: How many P-3s were admitted to the United
States, from elsewhere in the world, in recent
years?
A: Since October 1, 2003, some 400 people have
arrived from other parts of the world through the P-3
program.
Q: Please explain how the P-3 application
process works.
A: A person who entered the United
States as a refugee, or who was granted asylum after
arriving in the United States; and who is a member of an
eligible nationality (18 in FY 2009) may file Affidavits of
Relationship (AORs) for family members overseas (parent,
spouse, and/or unmarried children under 21) in order to
establish their family members’ eligibility to apply to
the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.
The Refugee
Processing Center (RPC – a Department of State contractor)
logs in the AORs and sends them to DHS for review.
DHS
reviews the AOR to determine whether the individuals claimed
are eligible for processing under P-3. For more information
about this aspect of the process, we refer you to
DHS.
DHS returns approved affidavits to the RPC, which
forwards them to the appropriate Overseas Processing
Entities (OPEs) for processing.
The OPEs open refugee
admissions cases for the eligible family members, prescreen
them, and present them to DHS for the final
interview.
Q. Which countries’ citizens are eligible
for consideration through the P-3 Program?
A: For
fiscal year 2009, the following nationalities are
eligible:
Afghanistan
Bhutan
Burma
Burundi
Central
African Republic
Colombia
Cuba
Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)
Democratic Republic
of Congo
(DRC)
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Haiti
Iran
Iraq
Somalia
Sudan
Uzbekistan
Zimbabwe
Q:
Is the P-3 program suspended in those countries where DNA
testing has not taken place and/or there is no evidence of
fraud?
As of October 22, 2008, the Department of
State stopped accepting Affidavits of Relationship (AORs)
for all nationalities.
In locations where we have no evidence of fraud -- Bangkok, Cairo, Havana, Ho Chi Minh City, Istanbul, Kathmandu, Moscow, and Vienna -- the small number of AORs that were submitted and cleared prior to March 2008 are being processed. However, no new applications are being accepted for any nationality at this time
Q:
What is the State Department doing to ensure that African
refugees continue to be included in the Refugee Admissions
Program in numbers commensurate with the humanitarian needs
of the region?
A: We continue to work closely with
UNHCR to determine which African refugee populations are
appropriate candidates for group and individual referrals.
For example, we recently authorized the processing of
several thousand Eritrean refugees in a camp in Ethiopia and
continue to receive P-1 (individual) referrals of Congolese,
Burundians, Somalis, and other African nationalities.
In
August 2008. PRM’s Acting Assistant Secretary Sam Witten
visited Kenya and East Africa where he reconfirmed with
UNHCR and other partners the U.S. government’s ongoing
commitment to the resettlement of African refugees in need
of
resettlement.
ENDS