Page 1 GAO-03-681R Immigration Benefits 

April 21, 2003 

The Honorable Ted Stevens 

Chairman 

The Honorable Robert C. Byrd 

Ranking Member 

Committee on Appropriations 

United States Senate 

The Honorable Orrin G. Hatch 

Chairman 

The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy 

Ranking Member 

Committee on the Judiciary 

United States Senate 

The Honorable C.W. Bill Young 

Chairman 

The Honorable David R. Obey 

Ranking Member 

Committee on Appropriations 

House of Representatives 

The Honorable F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. 

Chairman 

The Honorable John Conyers, Jr. 

Ranking Member 

Committee on the Judiciary 

House of Representatives 

Subject: Immigration Benefits: Ninth 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 19981

 that authorized certain Haitian 

nationals and their dependents to apply to adjust their status to legal 

permanent residence. Section 902(k) of the act requires the Comptroller 

 1

P.L. 105-277, 112 Stat. 2681-538. 

United States General Accounting Office

Washington, DC 20548 
Page 2 GAO-03-681R Immigration Benefits 

General to report every 6 months on the number of Haitian nationals who 

have applied and been approved to adjust their status to legal 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 ninth report.2

Through March 31, 2003, the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration 

Services (BCIS), formerly part of the Immigration and Naturalization 

Service (INS), had received a total of 37,295 HRIFA applications and had 

approved 9,555 of these applications.3

 The Executive Office for 

Immigration Review (EOIR) had 665 applications filed and had approved 

183 of them. Details on the categories of the applicants and approvals are 

provided in this report. 

Haitian applicants are to send their applications to BCIS’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 BCIS examiners. An application may be adjudicated at the 

 2

The previous reports were (1) U.S. General Accounting Office, 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 Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, GAO-03-240R

(Washington, D.C.: Oct. 22, 2002). 

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 BCIS. 

Results in Brief 

Background 
Page 3 GAO-03-681R Immigration Benefits 

service center or in a BCIS 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 BCIS officials. If an interview is required or other issues need to be 

resolved, the application is to be forwarded to the appropriate BCIS 

district where the applicant can be interviewed and the application 

adjudicated. Data on Haitian applicants are to be entered in BCIS’s 

Computer Linked Application Information System (CLAIMS). 

Haitian nationals who are eligible for HRIFA should file their applications 

with EOIR rather than BCIS 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 BCIS.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 filing an application for adjustment 

of status under HRIFA was March 31, 2000. Dependents of principal 

applicants have no application deadline.5

Through March 31, 2003, BCIS data showed that it had received 

37,295 HRIFA applications at its Nebraska Service Center, all of which had 

been entered into CLAIMS. The categories and numbers of these 

applicants are shown in table 1. Through March 31, 2003, BCIS had 

approved 9,555 applications for adjustment of status under HRIFA. 

 4

EOIR was not transferred to Homeland Security and remains part of the Department of 

Justice. 

5

The Legal Immigration and Family Equity Act (title XI of P.L. 106-553, as amended by title 

XV of P.L. 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. Interim 

regulations implementing these changes to HRIFA went into effect on May 31, 2001. 

HRIFA Applications 

Received and 

Approved by BCIS 
Page 4 GAO-03-681R Immigration Benefits 

Table 1: HRIFA Applications and Categories of Applications Received and 

Approved by BCIS, through March 31, 2003 

Principal or 

dependent Category of applicant 

Number of 

applications in 

CLAIMS 

Number of 

applications 

approved 

Principal Asylum 17,318 5,320 

Principal Parolee 8,898 2,271 

Principal Child without parents 1,228 92 

Principal Orphaned child 240 18 

Principal Abandoned child 480 15 

Dependent Spouse 3,317 624 

Dependent Child 5,485 1,157 

Dependent Unmarried son or 

daughter 

329 58 

Total 37,295 9,555 

Source: BCIS data. 

Through March 31, 2003, EOIR data from ANSIR showed that 665 HRIFA 

applications had been filed with EOIR, of which 183 had been approved 

for adjustment of status. 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, 2003 

Principal or 

dependent Category of applicant 

Number of 

applications in 

ANSIR 

Number of 

applications 

approved 

Principal Asylum 463 104 

Principal Parolee 106 34 

Principal Child without parents 34 19 

Principal Orphaned 5 4 

Principal Abandoned child 3 3 

Dependent Spouse 34 11 

Dependent Child 15 5 

Dependent Unmarried son or 

daughter 

5 3 

Total 665 183 

Source: EOIR data. 

Our objectives for this report were to determine (1) the number and 

categories of applicants who filed applications with BCIS or EOIR and 

(2) the number and categories of applicants whose applications were 

HRIFA Applications 

Filed with and 

Approved by EOIR 

Objectives, Scope, 

and Methodology 
Page 5 GAO-03-681R Immigration Benefits 

approved by BCIS or EOIR. To attain these objectives, we relied on BCIS 

and EOIR to provide us with data on applicants and the number of 

approvals. We did not independently verify the data provided by BCIS or 

EOIR. We conducted our work between March and April 2003, in 

accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. 

We provided the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security with a 

draft of this report for comment and received their informal comments on 

April 16, 2003. BCIS and EOIR 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 contributor to this 

assignment was Jay Jennings. 

Laurie E. Ekstrand 

Director, Homeland Security 

 and Justice Issues 

(440196) 
This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the 

United States. It may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without further 

permission from GAO. However, because this work may contain copyrighted images or 

other material, permission from the copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to 

reproduce this material separately. 
The General Accounting Office, the audit, evaluation and investigative arm of 

Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities 

and to help improve the performance and accountability of the federal 

government for the American people. GAO examines the use of public funds; 

evaluates federal programs and policies; and provides analyses, 

recommendations, and other assistance to help Congress make informed 

oversight, policy, and funding decisions. GAO’s commitment to good government 

is reflected in its core values of accountability, integrity, and reliability. 

The fastest and easiest way to obtain copies of GAO documents at no cost is 

through the Internet. GAO’s Web site (www.gao.gov) contains abstracts and fulltext files of current reports and testimony and an expanding archive of older 

products. The Web site features a search engine to help you locate documents 

using key words and phrases. You can print these documents in their entirety, 

including charts and other graphics. 

Each day, GAO issues a list of newly released reports, testimony, and 

correspondence. GAO posts this list, known as “Today’s Reports,” on its Web site 

daily. The list contains links to the full-text document files. To have GAO e-mail 

this list to you every afternoon, go to www.gao.gov and select “Subscribe to daily 

E-mail alert for newly released products” under the GAO Reports heading. 

The first copy of each printed report is free. Additional copies are $2 each. A 

check or money order should be made out to the Superintendent of Documents. 

GAO also accepts VISA and Mastercard. Orders for 100 or more copies mailed to a 

single address are discounted 25 percent. Orders should be sent to: 

U.S. General Accounting Office 

441 G Street NW, Room LM 

Washington, D.C. 20548 

To order by Phone: Voice: (202) 512-6000 

TDD: (202) 512-2537 

Fax: (202) 512-6061 

Contact: 

Web site: www.gao.gov/fraudnet/fraudnet.htm 

E-mail: fraudnet@gao.gov

Automated answering system: (800) 424-5454 or (202) 512-7470 

Jeff Nelligan, managing director, NelliganJ@gao.gov (202) 512-4800 

U.S. General Accounting Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 7149 

Washington, D.C. 20548 

GAO’s Mission 

Obtaining Copies of 

GAO Reports and 

Testimony 

Order by Mail or Phone 

To Report Fraud, 

Waste, and Abuse in 

Federal Programs 

Public Affairs