This is the accessible text file for GAO report number GAO-07-796R 
entitled 'Immigration Benefits: Sixteenth Report Required by the 
Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998' which was released on 
April 30, 2007. 

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April 27, 2007: 

The Honorable Robert C. Byrd: 
Chairman: 
The Honorable Thad Cochran: 
Ranking Member: 
Committee on Appropriations: 
United States Senate: 

The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy: 
Chairman: 
The Honorable Arlen Specter: 
Ranking Member: 
Committee on the Judiciary: 
United States Senate: 

The Honorable Dave Obey: 
Chairman: 
The Honorable Jerry Lewis: 
Ranking Member: 
Committee on Appropriations: 
House of Representatives: 

The Honorable John Conyers, Jr. 
Chairman: 
The Honorable Lamar S. Smith: 
Ranking Member: 
Committee on the Judiciary: 
House of Representatives: 

Subject: Immigration Benefits: Sixteenth Report Required by the Haitian 
Refugee: 

Immigration Fairness Act of 1998: 

This report responds to certain requirements of the Haitian Refugee 
Immigration Fairness Act (HRIFA) of 1998[Footnote 1] that authorized 
certain Haitian nationals and their dependents to apply to adjust their 
status to lawful permanent residence. Section 902 (k) of the act 
requires the Comptroller General to report every 6 months on the number 
of Haitian nationals who have applied and been approved to adjust their 
status to lawful permanent residence. The reports are to contain a 
breakdown of the number of Haitians who applied and the number who were 
approved as asylum applicants, parolees, children without parents, 
orphaned children, or abandoned children; or as the eligible dependents 
of these applicants, including spouses, children, and unmarried sons or 
daughters. Reports are to be provided until all applications have been 
finally adjudicated. This is our sixteenth report.[Footnote 2] 

Results in Brief: 

Through March 31, 2007, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 
(USCIS), formerly part of the Immigration and Naturalization Service 
(INS), had received a total of 40,844 HRIFA applications and had 
approved 17,538 of these applications.[Footnote 3] The Executive Office 
for Immigration Review (EOIR) had 2,020 applications filed and had 
approved 797 of them. Details on the categories of the applicants and 
approvals are provided in this report. 

Background: 

Haitian applicants are to send their applications to USCIS's Nebraska 
Service Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. A contractor at the service center 
is responsible for processing the applications up to the point of their 
adjudication by USCIS adjudication officers. An application may be 
adjudicated at the service center or in a USCIS district with 
jurisdiction over the area where the alien applicant resides. 
Generally, applications that are complete and evidentially sufficient 
can be adjudicated at the service center, according to USCIS officials. 
If an interview is required or other issues need to be resolved, the 
application is forwarded to the appropriate USCIS district, where the 
applicant can be interviewed and the application adjudicated. Data on 
Haitian applicants are to be entered in USCIS's Computer Linked 
Application Information Management System (CLAIMS). 

Haitian nationals who are eligible for HRIFA should file their 
applications with EOIR rather than USCIS if they have (1) a proceeding 
pending before the Immigration Court or the Board of Immigration 
Appeals or (2) a pending motion to reopen or reconsider filed on or 
before May 12, 1999. Thus, Haitian nationals who are in deportation, 
exclusion, or removal proceedings, and whose cases have not been 
administratively closed, are to file their HRIFA application with EOIR, 
not USCIS.[Footnote 4] Data on Haitian applicants are to be entered in 
EOIR's case tracking system, the Automated Nationwide System for 
Immigration Review (ANSIR). 

The deadline for principal applicants to file an application for 
adjustment of status under HRIFA was March 31, 2000. Dependents of 
principal applicants have no application deadline.[Footnote 5] 

HRIFA Applications Received and Approved by USCIS: 

Through March 31, 2007, USCIS data showed that it had received 40,844 
HRIFA applications at its Nebraska Service Center, all of which had 
been entered into CLAIMS.[Footnote 6] The categories and numbers of 
these applicants are shown in table 1. Through March 31, 2007, USCIS 
had approved 17,538 applications for adjustment of status under HRIFA. 

Table 1: HRIFA Applications and Categories of Applications Received and 
Approved by USCIS, through March 31, 2007: 

Principal or dependent: Principal; 
Category of applicant: Asylum; 
Number of applications in CLAIMS: 17,344; 
Number of applications approved: 7,174. 

Principal or dependent: Principal; 
Category of applicant: Parolee; 
Number of applications in CLAIMS: 8,904; 
Number of applications approved: 3,037. 

Principal or dependent: Principal; 
Category of applicant: Child without parents; 
Number of applications in CLAIMS: 1,230; 
Number of applications approved: 164. 

Principal or dependent: Principal; 
Category of applicant: Orphaned child; 
Number of applications in CLAIMS: 240; 
Number of applications approved: 35. 

Principal or dependent: Principal; 
Category of applicant: Abandoned child; 
Number of applications in CLAIMS: 481; 
Number of applications approved: 42. 

Principal or dependent: Dependent; 
Category of applicant: Spouse; 
Number of applications in CLAIMS: 3,864; 
Number of applications approved: 1,485. 

Principal or dependent: Dependent; 
Category of applicant: Child; 
Number of applications in CLAIMS: 8,343; 
Number of applications approved: 5,493. 

Principal or dependent: Dependent; 
Category of applicant: Unmarried son or daughter; 
Number of applications in CLAIMS: 438; 
Number of applications approved: 108. 

Total; 
Category of applicant: [Empty]; 
Number of applications in CLAIMS: 40,844; 
Number of applications approved: 17,538. 

Source: USCIS data. 

[End of table] 

HRIFA Applications Filed with and Approved by EOIR: 

Through March 31, 2007, EOIR data from ANSIR showed that 2,020 HRIFA 
applications had been filed with EOIR, of which 797 had been approved 
for adjustment of status.[Footnote 7] Table 2 provides information on 
the categories and numbers of HRIFA applicants and approvals. 

Table 2: HRIFA Applications and Categories of Applications Filed with 
and Approved by EOIR, through March 31, 2007: 

Principal or dependent: Principal; 
Category of applicant: Asylum; 
Number of applications in ANSIR: 1,113; 
Number of applications approved: 426. 

Principal or dependent: Principal; 
Category of applicant: Parolee; 
Number of applications in ANSIR: 478; 
Number of applications approved: 178. 

Principal or dependent: Principal; 
Category of applicant: Child without parents; 
Number of applications in ANSIR: 105; 
Number of applications approved: 43. 

Principal or dependent: Principal; 
Category of applicant: Orphaned child; 
Number of applications in ANSIR: 16; 
Number of applications approved: 6. 

Principal or dependent: Principal; 
Category of applicant: Abandoned child; 
Number of applications in ANSIR: 23; 
Number of applications approved: 11. 

Principal or dependent: Dependent; 
Category of applicant: Spouse; 
Number of applications in ANSIR: 184; 
Number of applications approved: 86. 

Principal or dependent: Dependent; 
Category of applicant: Child; 
Number of applications in ANSIR: 83; 
Number of applications approved: 38. 

Principal or dependent: Dependent; 
Category of applicant: Unmarried son or daughter; 
Number of applications in ANSIR: 18; 
Number of applications approved: 9. 

Total; 
Category of applicant: [Empty]; 
Number of applications in ANSIR: 2,020; 
Number of applications approved: 797. 

Source: EOIR data. 

[End of table] 

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology: 

Our objectives for this report were to determine (1) the number and 
categories of applicants who filed applications with USCIS or EOIR and 
(2) the number and categories of applicants whose applications were 
approved by USCIS or EOIR. To attain these objectives, we relied on 
USCIS and EOIR to provide us with data from their CLAIMS and ANSIR 
systems, respectively, on applicants and the number of approvals. We 
assessed the reliability of the data by reviewing existing information 
about the data and the system that produced them, and we questioned 
agency officials knowledgeable about the data. We determined that the 
data were sufficiently reliable for the purposes of this report. We 
conducted our work in April 2007, in accordance with generally accepted 
government auditing standards. 

We provided the Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security 
(DHS) with a draft of this report for comment. DOJ and DHS had no 
comments on the report. 

We are providing copies of this report to the Attorney General and the 
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and will make copies 
available to others upon request. If you have any questions about this 
report, please contact me at (202) 512-8777. The key contributors to 
this assignment were Evi Rezmovic and R.E. Canjar. 

Signed by: 

Richard M. Stana: 
Director, Homeland Security and Justice Issues: 

(440609): 

FOOTNOTES 

[1] Pub. L. No. 105-277, tit. IX, 112 Stat. 2681-538. 

[2] The previous reports were (1) GAO, Immigration Benefits: 
Applications for Adjustment of Status under the Haitian Refugee 
Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, GAO/GGD-99-92R (Washington, D.C.: 
Apr. 21, 1999); (2) Immigration Benefits: Second Report Required by the 
Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, GAO/GGD-00-25R 
(Washington, D.C.: Oct. 19, 1999); (3) Immigration Benefits: Third 
Report Required by the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 
1998, GAO/GGD-00-122R (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 14, 2000); (4) 
Immigration Benefits: Fourth Report Required by the Haitian Refugee 
Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, GAO-01-118R (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 
20, 2000); (5) Immigration Benefits: Fifth Report Required by the 
Haitian Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, GAO-01-651R (Washington, 
D.C.: Apr. 20, 2001); (6) Immigration Benefits: Sixth Report Required 
by the Haitian Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, GAO-02-114R 
(Washington, D.C.: Oct. 22, 2001); (7) Immigration Benefits: Seventh 
Report Required by the Haitian Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, GAO- 
02-600R (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 18, 2002); (8) Immigration Benefits: 
Eighth Report Required by the Haitian Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, 
GAO-03-240R (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 22, 2002); (9) Immigration 
Benefits: Ninth Report Required by the Haitian Refugee Immigration 
Fairness Act of 1998, GAO-03-681R (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 21, 2003); 
(10) Immigration Benefits: Tenth Report Required by the Haitian Refugee 
Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, GAO-04-189R (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 
17, 2003); (11) Immigration Benefits: Eleventh Report Required by the 
Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, GAO-04-1030R 
(Washington, D.C.: Aug. 13, 2004); (12) Immigration Benefits: Twelfth 
Report Required by the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 
1998, GAO-05-481R (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 14, 2005), (13) Immigration 
Benefits: Thirteenth Report Required by the Haitian Refugee Immigration 
Fairness Act of 1998, GAO-06-122R (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 21, 2005), 
(14) Immigration Benefits: Fourteenth Report Required by the Haitian 
Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, GAO-06-589R (Washington, 
D.C.: April 21, 2006); and (15) Immigration Benefits: Fifteenth Report 
Required by the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, GAO- 
07-168R (Washington, D.C.: November 9, 2006). 

[3] On March 1, 2003, INS was transferred from the Department of 
Justice to the Department of Homeland Security. Within Homeland 
Security, the adjudication of HRIFA benefits is the responsibility of 
USCIS. 

[4] EOIR was not transferred to the Department of Homeland Security and 
remains part of the Department of Justice. 

[5] The Legal Immigration and Family Equity Act (title XI of Pub. L. 
No. 106-553, as amended by title XV of Pub. L. No. 106-554) went into 
effect on December 21, 2000. This act amended HRIFA to waive certain 
grounds of inadmissibility for aliens applying for relief under HRIFA. 
Regulations implementing these changes to HRIFA went into effect on May 
31, 2001, and motions to reopen immigration court proceedings for 
aliens made eligible for HRIFA benefits by these changes had to be 
filed by June 19, 2001. 

[6] Although March 31, 2000, was the application deadline for 
principals to file applications for adjustment of status under HRIFA, 
there have continued to be slight increases in CLAIMS in the number of 
principal applicants. According to USCIS, CLAIMS data may be adjusted 
for various reasons. For example, USCIS may determine that a 
principal's application was rejected in error during the filing period 
that ended on March 31, 2000; or, a principal may have submitted the 
application to a field office, and the application may not have been 
correctly routed to the Nebraska Service Center. As USCIS becomes aware 
of such cases, it enters them into CLAIMS. 

[7] Principal applicants who filed an initial application for benefits 
with the Immigration and Naturalization Service on or before the filing 
deadline of March 31, 2000, may renew their application for HRIFA 
benefits with EOIR even after the deadline. Such cases, which would be 
entered into ANSIR when the application is renewed before EOIR, account 
for increases in the total number of principal applicants over time.

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