{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043107/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47829", "Continued Concerns with Mayorkas Nomination", "2013-12-19", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "IA", "Charles Grassley", "G000386", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Prepared Floor Speech of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa  \nRanking Member, Senate Judiciary Committee  \nMayorkas Failed to Fix National Security Concerns  \nThursday, December 19, 2013 Just two days ago I was on this floor explaining the concerns I have with Mr. Mayorkas\u2019s nomination.\u00a0 I have additional information for my colleagues. Today, the Office of Inspector General, or OIG, for the Department of Homeland Security released an embargoed version of its audit of the EB-5 immigrant investor visa program.\u00a0 The report states that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has difficulty ensuring the integrity of the program and does not always ensure that regional centers meet all eligibility requirements.\u00a0 Specifically, it said:  \n\u201cU.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services did not always enforce its own regulations and procedures to assist with managing the regional center program.\u201d \u201cUntil improvements are made, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is unable to prevent fraud and national security threats. . .\u201d \u201c[I]t cannot report the results of the program accurately or ensure the EB-5 program is benefiting the U.S. economy and creating jobs for U.S. citizens as created by Congress.\u201d You understand that Mr. Mayorkas is in charge of this program.\u00a0 The IG said that the agency needed to improve coordination and rely on the expertise of other agencies. The IG had several recommendations for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that, frankly, should have been in place before now if the director was doing his job. In his comments on the draft report, Mr. Mayorkas claimed that he was already addressing the issues the OIG raised.\u00a0 He said his agency had \u201cdramatically enhanced collaboration with key government partners,\u201d such as the FBI.\u00a0 He also wrote that when his agency has concerns with EB-5 cases, it doesn\u2019t decide the cases until it has \u201cfully coordinated its approach with enforcement and intelligence partners.\u201d I\u2019ve seen examples of this so-called coordination Mr. Mayorkas talks about. But again, his words don\u2019t comport with the actual practice.\u00a0 When Homeland Security\u2019s law enforcement database, TECS, has a hit on someone applying for a regional center, Citizenship and Immigration Services sends an email to the law enforcement agency that put the record in. But, the problem is that Citizenship and Immigration Services isn\u2019t waiting for law enforcement.\u00a0  \nIn fact, information has come to my attention that Citizenship and Immigration Services employees are told to move forward if law enforcement doesn\u2019t respond in five days. That\u2019s just five days to find out what sensitive security or fraud information caused that person to be flagged.\u00a0 If law enforcement doesn\u2019t get back to Citizenship and Immigration Services soon enough, they just go ahead and approve the person\u2019s application. That\u2019s not coordination\u2014it\u2019s a sham.\u00a0 It should be simply unacceptable to any of us who are concerned about the national security of our country.\u00a0 It is not the sort of way to run a program with national security vulnerabilities.\u00a0 You should wait until the law enforcement responds.\u00a0 You need to know who's coming into this country, particularly when they're involved in a program where you buy your way into a country by supposedly investing and creating jobs in this country.\u00a0 Some people may want to get into this country for ulterior motives, and it may violate our national security.\u00a0 They don't care about creating jobs.\u00a0 If the visa gets them inside the country, you need to know if they're a threat to our national security. The only reason that US Citizenship and Immigration Services even does checks on regional centers at all is because of a push within the agency that Mr. Mayorkas and his management resisted.\u00a0 Now they\u2019re trying to take credit for it. More important is what his agency has not done.\u00a0 They refuse to kick out regional centers that invite national security problems.  \n\u00a0  \nMr. Mayorkas claims he doesn\u2019t have statutory authority, but the OIG audit recommended that Mr. Mayorkas should make clear on his own that fraud and national security concerns are a reason for regional centers to be kicked out of the program. The bottom line is that Mr. Mayorkas has not taken the steps that were within his power to guard against security vulnerabilities in the EB-5 program.\u00a0 The OIG audit report concludes: \u201cCurrently, USCIS cannot administer and manage the EB-5 regional center program effectively.\u201d Mr. Mayorkas has had ample notice of these problems for years.\u00a0 He has failed to take adequate action.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043107/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47829"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7404370699077845, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}