he integrity of the United States immigration
system has been corrupted and the system is incapable of ensuring
the security of our homeland."
* Nearly 20% of the complaints against agents of the US
Citizenship and Immigration Services allege criminal activities.
"Alleged crimes include bribery, harboring illegal aliens, money
laundering, structuring, sale of documents, marriage fraud,
extortion, undue foreign influence, and making false statements,
among other things. Also included among these complaints are
national security cases; for example, allegations of USCIS employees
providing material support to known terrorists or being influenced
by foreign intelligence services."
–Michael J. Maxwell, (former) Director,
USCIS Office of Security and Investigations, U.S. Department of
Homeland Security
By Douglas J. Hagmann, Director
director@homelandsecurityus.com
29 June 2006: Michael J. Maxwell is a true American patriot
with an impressive resume who cares deeply about the security and
future of our country. Until last February, he was Director of the
Office of Security and Investigations (OSI) at US Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS), which is the part of the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) that processes all applications for
immigration status and documents filed by aliens who are already
present in the United States, or the filings by U.S. citizens,
lawful permanent residents, and employers who seek to bring an alien
to the U.S., either permanently or temporarily.
The Office of Security and Investigations is a “department” within
USCIS, and was created to “regain the public trust in the
immigration service” by identifying, reporting, and resolving any
security vulnerabilities that would permit the successful
manipulation of the immigration system by either external or
internal agents. To be sure, OSI has other duties, but insuring that
the US Citizenship and Immigration Services – a vital part of the
Department of Homeland Security, is operating properly is of primary
importance. Mr. Maxwell headed the operation that identifies and
reports on the internal problems at the US Citizenship and
Immigration Services. He took his job seriously, discharged his
duties passionately, and as a result, is paying a heavy price.
Yesterday, I interviewed Mr. Maxwell about the testimony he provided
to the United States House of Representatives, Subcommittee on
International Terrorism and Nonproliferation, Committee on Internal
Relations on April 6, 2006. The information he provided during
this interview was absolutely riveting – and frightening.
Terrorists are using our own immigration system to enter and imbed
themselves inside the United States, and in some cases, they are
receiving help from the inside. When Mr. Maxwell informed senior
government officials about the national security vulnerabilities he
found that jeopardize the security of the U.S. and consequently,
places the lives of every American citizen at risk, they chose to
ignore them. Not only did these high-ranking officials ignore the
problems he identified, they actually ordered Mr. Maxwell ignore
them as well, even though it was his very job was to address them.
When he refused these orders out of a sense of duty to his country,
he was subjected to retaliation and suddenly became a modern day
“Serpico” within the Department of Homeland Security. The
retaliation was so significant, Mr. Maxwell found it impossible to
carry out his duties as the director of the Office of Security and
Investigations.
After leaving his position, Mr. Maxwell provided
documentation and evidence of the wrongdoing he found within the US
Citizenship and Immigration Services to the FBI in a series of
meetings encompassing upwards of 30 hours. According to Mr. Maxwell,
the FBI was overwhelmed at the magnitude and severity of the issues
he brought forward.
Stated Mr. Maxwell:
“The same senior leaders who absolutely refused to allow OSI to
obtain the necessary resources to fulfill its mission also refused,
time and time again, to act when confronted with major national
security vulnerabilities my team and I identified in the immigration
process.”
“Each of the security breaches described below was brought
immediately to the attention of top-level officials at USCIS. These
breaches compromise virtually every part of the immigration system,
leaving vulnerabilities that have been and likely are being
exploited by enemies of the United States. Despite the fact that
each identified threat has significant national security
implications, USCIS leadership consistently failed—or refused—to
correct them. Instead, top officials chose to cover them up, to
dismiss them, and/or to target the employees who identified them,
even when the solution was both obvious and feasible.”
“As the office responsible for internal affairs, OSI received 2,771
complaints about
employees between August 2004 and October 2005. Over 1800 of these
were originally
declined for investigation by the DHS Office of the Inspector
General and referred to OSI. Most of the remaining complaints were
delivered to OSI by the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility
once they gave up jurisdiction over USCIS complaints. The majority
of all complaints received by OSI are service complaints (e.g., an
alien complaining that he did not receive his immigration status in
a timely way) or administrative issues (e.g., allegations of
nepotism).”
