The Center for Immigration Studies is proud to release the latest episode of Parsing Immigration Policy, featuring the opening statements from our 2025 congressional testimony. Since January, CIS experts have testified seven times before the U.S. House and Senate, appearing before committees on Homeland Security, Oversight, and Judiciary. These opening statements reflect the breadth of CIS expertise on border enforcement, parole policy, visa integrity, NGO influence, detention operations, and more.

Highlights include:

• Biden’s Border Betrayal: Criminal Aliens in America — U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Border Security & Immigration (Andrew R. Arthur, July 22)
• The Fiscal Consequences of Parole During the Biden Administration — House Homeland Security Oversight Subcommittee (Steven A. Camarota, July 15)
• Restoring Integrity and Security to the Visa Process — House Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee (Jessica M. Vaughan, June 25)
• Public Funds, Private Agendas: NGOs Gone Wild — House Oversight Subcommittee on Government Efficiency (Mark Krikorian, June 4)
• Examining Threats to ICE Operations — House Judiciary Oversight Subcommittee (Andrew R. Arthur, May 20)
• Restoring Immigration Enforcement in America — House Judiciary Committee (Jessica M. Vaughan, January 22)
• Remain in Mexico — Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee (Andrew R. Arthur, January 16)

Host

Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.

Guest

Center staff testimony.

Related

Center testimony page

Intro Montage

Voices in the opening montage:

• Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.
• Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.
• President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.
• Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.
• Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.
• Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.
• Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.
• Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.
• Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.
• Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.
• Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

The latest episode of Parsing Immigration Policy, the Center for Immigration Studies' podcast, delves into the role of immigration detention in U.S. enforcement efforts. Hosted by Mark Krikorian, the discussion features insights from Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge and the Center’s Fellow in Law and Policy, who stresses that detention is required to ensure integrity of the immigration system.

Highlights:

• Purpose of Detention: Detention serves administrative functions, ensuring individuals appear for hearings and are available for removal if ordered.
• Failure to Appear: 34 percent of alien respondents in immigration court fail to appear at some point during the removal proceeding process. Respondents in detention must appear in court whether they want to or not, so the no-show rate is effectively zero, which skews the overall rate of what are termed “in absentia” cases.
• Legal Mandates under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA): Detention of aliens subject to removal proceedings is mandatory under various provisions of the INA, including individuals apprehended entering illegally, criminal aliens post-incarceration, and those under final removal orders.
• Detention Capacity: The lack of detention space is causing a bottleneck in enforcement. The “Big Beautiful Bill” expands detention capacity. potentially increasing bed space by 80,000.
• Detention Standards: ICE follows the Performance-Based National Detention Standards – the gold standard of care and higher than conventional jail standards.
• State and Local Roles: States can assist by providing facilities, with federal reimbursement, to support detention efforts. Examples include Alligator Alcatraz in Florida and soft-sided facilities on military bases in New Jersey and Indiana.

In today's commentary, Mark Krikorian, podcast host and executive director of the Center, highlights The Dignity Act, introduced by Representative Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.). The bill handcuffs immigration enforcement in many ways, amnesties millions, and increases legal immigration, reminding us that the open borders, pro amnesty advocates will never stop pushing their agenda.

Host

Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.

Guest

Andrew Arthur is the Resident Fellow in Law and Policy at the Center for Immigration Studies.

Related

The Role of Immigration Detention and Why It is NeededThe ‘Dignity Act’:

 Amnesty for 12 million now plus more than five million extra immigrants over the next decade

The Price of “Dignity”

Intro Montage

Voices in the opening montage:

• Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.
• Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.
• President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.
• Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.
• Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.
• Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.
• Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.
• Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.
• Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.
• Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.
• Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

In the latest episode of the Parsing Immigration Policy podcast, host and the Center’s executive director Mark Krikorian sits down with Gaby Pacheco, an Ecuador-born “Dreamer” and President and CEO of TheDream.US.

Krikorian, a long-time critic of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and Pacheco, now an American citizen, discuss the history and politics of the Dream Act and DACA.

Opportunity Lost: Despite holding 60 Senate seats during the first year of the Obama administration, Democrats chose not to move a legislative amnesty for Dreamers – illegal aliens who entered the United States at a young age.

What is DACA?: Having failed to pass an amnesty for Dreamers, President Obama bypassed Congress in 2012 and through executive action created DACA, which provides some of the benefits of the Dream Act, including protection from deportation and employment authorization, to certain illegal aliens who entered the U.S. before age 16. Its legality has been the subject of litigation.

Origins of the Idea for DACA: Pacheco recounts how, having failed to pass the Dream Act through Congress, the administrative approach of DACA was inspired by a 2003 private bill by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program, which provides “temporary” protection from deportation and work authorization eligibility for nationals in the U.S. of countries that have experienced natural disaster or civil strife.

Trump’s 2018 offer: The Trump administration proposed a legislative package that would have given proper legal status to DACA recipients and other DACA-eligible illegal immigrants, covering perhaps as many as 2 million people, in exchange for key reforms in the legal immigration system. It failed in the House.

Looking ahead: Will Congress address DACA?

Host

Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.

Guest

Gaby Pacheco is the President and CEO of TheDream.US.RelatedTheDream.US

Intro Montage

Voices in the opening montage:

• Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.
• Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.
• President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.
• Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.
• Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.
• Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.
• Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.
• Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.
• Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.
• Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.
• Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

In this week's episode of Parsing Immigration Policy, Jessica Vaughan, the Center's Director of Policy Studies, expands on her recent testimony before the U.S. House immigration subcommittee on “Restoring Integrity and Security to the Visa Process”.

Under the Biden administration, the number of visa applications and issuances increased significantly, which created difficulties for vetting and greater opportunity for visa fraud. Along with host and Center Executive Director Mark Krikorian, Vaughan explores various actions that can be taken by Congress or the Trump administration to address these risks.

Vaughan identifies several possible changes that could be made administratively.

• Change the culture of customer service at USCIS and State Department that encourages adjudicators to “get to yes”
• Require mandatory interviews of all visa applicants
• Narrow the default authorized duration of stay for short-term tourist and business visas to 30 days instead of an automatic six months

Vaughan also discusses visa categories that she believes should be reviewed by Congress to decide if they need to be managed more closely, cut back, or eliminated altogether, including:

• Diversity Lottery
• U and T visas
• Special Immigrant Juvenile visas
• Optional Practical Training
• J visas

In his closing commentary, Mark Krikorian looks inside the “Big Beautiful Bill” and what its enactment means for immigration policy.

Host

Mark Krikorian in the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.

Guest

Jessica Vaughan is a Director of Policy Studies at the Center for Immigration Studies.

Related

Jessica Vaughan’s oral and written statements

Video of the full hearing, plus all written witness statements

Overview of Immigration Provisions in H.R.1, the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’

Intro Montage

Voices in the opening montage:

• Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.
• Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.
• President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.
• Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.
• Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.
• Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.
• Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.
• Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.
• Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.
• Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.
• Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

This week’s episode of the Parsing Immigration Policy podcast explores a topic rarely covered in the media: marriage fraud. Guest host Marguerite Telford, the Center’s Director of Communications, sits down with Richard Lee, a former USCIS Immigration Officer and author, to discuss how sham marriages are orchestrated to gain a green card—and eventually citizenship—often then bringing extended family members through chain migration. They also examine how existing U.S. laws and loopholes make it easier for bad actors to exploit the system, in part, by sharing real-life stories.

Key topics:

What is marriage fraud?

 A marriage entered with the primary intention of securing immigration benefits—green cards, citizenship, and eventual chain migration.

Types of marriage fraud

• Single scheme marriage (friendship marriages)
• Single scheme one sided marriage (U.S. citizen used and defrauded)
• Arranged marriage (a paid broker is used and includes fraud rings)

Cases of marriage fraud

The Numbers: Rich Lee draws on his USCIS experience in Atlanta, where he uncovered approximately 3,000 marriage-fraud cases over three years, primarily involving immigrant communities common to the region – the two most common foreign nationals involved were from Nigeria and Ghana.

Where do brokers find the U.S. citizens to exploit?

Lee discusses how homeless people are preyed upon.

VAWA fraud

Aliens exploit the Violence Against Women Act, a federal law that provides protection for victims of domestic violence. The law provides an easy pathway to a green card due to a huge bias towards the alien, who can claim abuse and then self-petition for a green card, all without any in-person interview. This claim of abuse often takes place without the alleged abuser’s knowledge. No evidence or information can be taken from the alleged abuser or his family.

• Telford questions whether it would be a good idea to amend the law so abuse can be contested – maybe adding an adversarial proceeding before an immigration judge.
• Lee believes that VAWA cases should be taken away from the Vermont Service Center.
• Lee also believes that in-person interviews should be required to safeguard against fraudulent misuse.

USCIS culture

Lee explains that he experienced a shift in the agency’s culture during his time as an immigration officer. USCIS is now focused almost exclusively on serving immigrants with little support provided to U.S. citizens.

Victims are encouraged to report fraud on the ICE tipline:1-866-DHS-2-ICE or ICE.gov/tipline

Host

Marguerite Telford is the Director of Communications at the Center for Immigration Studies.

Guest

Richard Lee is a former USCIS Immigration Officer and author.

Related

After the Border: 42 Eye-Opening, Shocking, Crazy, Happy & Fun Stories from a Retired U.S. Immigration Officer

Intro Montage

Voices in the opening montage:

• Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.
• Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.
• President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.
• Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.
• Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.
• Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.
• Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.
• Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.
• Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.
• Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.
• Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

This week’s episode of the Parsing Immigration Policy podcast delves into the Insurrection Act, its historical uses, and whether it could legally authorize the use of the military to assist in the arrest and removal of illegal aliens.

The Insurrection Act allows presidents to deploy federal troops not only in cases of insurrection but also when federal law can’t practicably be enforced through conventional means. The Posse Comitatus Act, which many point to as preventing such a use of troops, is not the obstacle many assume it is.

President Trump so far has only tasked troops with protection of federal facilities and agents, but, if he chooses to exercise it, he does have authority under the Insurrection Act to put them to work actually enforcing immigration law.

“The Insurrection Act has been invoked by leaders of both parties to protect civil rights and to enforce federal law. President Trump would have ample justification to use the Insurrection Act to allow the U.S. military to assist with large-scale deportation efforts,” said podcast guest George Fishman, Senior Legal Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies and former Deputy General Counsel at DHS.

Historical precedent:

Over the past more than 200 years, presidents have relied on the Insurrection Act to deal with some 30 crises.

Presidents of both parties have relied on the Insurrection Act: Grant to suppress the early KKK, Cleveland to protect Chinese immigrants, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson to enforce civil rights for African Americans, Bush to restore order during the 1992 LA riots.

Misconceptions about the Posse Comitatus Act (PCA):

The PCA does not apply where Congress has explicitly authorized military use — such as under the Insurrection Act.

Immigration enforcement today:

• More than 15 million illegal aliens are in the U.S.
• 3.6 million backlog in immigration court.
• 1.4 million aliens have final removal orders, yet remain at large. 
• Millions of removable aliens were released by the Biden administration, and ICE has no knowledge of their location.
• ICE has only 6,000 officers to manage enforcement nationwide.

Host

Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies

Guest

George Fishman is the Senior Legal Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies

Related

Don’t Fear the Insurrection Act

President Trump Doesn’t Need to Invoke the Insurrection Act — He Already Has

Intro Montage

Voices in the opening montage:

• Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.
• Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.
• President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.
• Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.
• Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.
• Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.
• Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.
• Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.
• Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.
• Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.
• Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association, joins Parsing Immigration Policy for a wide-ranging discussion of immigration enforcement, voter integrity, and state-federal cooperation.

A key national voice on immigration issues, Kobach shares with host Mark Krikorian insights into the practical and legal efforts that states like Kansas are taking to combat illegal immigration.

Highlights include:

Illegal Population in Kansas

• An estimated 90,000 to 100,000 illegal aliens reside in Kansas, many working in industries like construction.

State-Federal Law Enforcement Cooperation

• Kansas was among the first two states to sign 287(g) cooperation agreements with ICE.
• ICE has only 15,000 agents for interior enforcement – insufficient for mass removals. Kobach emphasized that under 287(g) the daily “net” cast by local officers provides the eyes and ears for federals agents.

Legal Advocacy & Litigation

• DACA Challenge: Kobach represented ICE agents in early litigation against President Obama’s DACA program.
• Obamacare Benefits Case: Led a multi-state coalition to stop illegal aliens from receiving Affordable Care Act benefits and received a victory from the 8th Circuit.
• Census Litigation: Currently leading a multi-state effort to exclude illegal aliens from the census for purposes of congressional apportionment. Including illegal aliens and those here on temporary visas causes “all kinds of constitutional problems.”

Election Integrity

• Former vice chair of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity under the first Trump administration.
• As Secretary State of the State of Kansas, Kobach implemented strict voter ID laws, requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote.
• Warns that illegal immigrants voting dilutes the votes of U.S. citizens.

E-Verify

• Private businesses in Kansas are not required to use E-Verify, but the agencies and contractors under the Attorney General are mandated to use it for new hires.
• Broader E-Verify bills have not been enacted due to a strong business lobby in the state.

NSEERS (National Security Entry-Exit Registration System)

• This was a post-9/11 system designed by Kobach when he was at the U.S. Department of Justice to stop the terrorist threat posed by the ease of getting a temporary visa and overstaying that visa.
• Whenever an alien from a high-risk terrorist country overstayed a temporary visa, he was flagged so that local law enforcement across the country could arrest him during any routine stop.
• The INS system led to 1,500 arrests of Pakistani illegal aliens, and caused the self-deportation of an estimated 15,000 more.
• Went into effect in 2002, but President Obama cancelled the program. If it were still in effect, the recent attack by a visa overstayer in Colorado might have been stopped.

In today’s commentary, Krikorian, the Center’s executive director, highlights a corporate-backed push – championed by Agriculture Secretary Rollins – to exempt certain sectors from immigration enforcement. President Trump briefly embraced it, triggering swift backlash from the base and within the administration. The move was quickly reversed, but serves as a reminder that pro-unlimited immigration forces remain active, even within the GOP. Eternal vigilance is essential to ensure that immigration policy forces employers to hustle for workers – not the other way around. A tight labor market is in the national interest.

Host

Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies

Guest

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach.

Related

287(g) Program: A Force Multiplier for Immigration Enforcement

A Preventable Terrorist Attack: NSEERS never should have been cancelled

Attorney General of Kansas Website

Kris Kobach personal website

That Was Fast

Intro Montage

Voices in the opening montage:

• Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.
• Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.
• President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.
• Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.
• Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.
• Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.
• Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.
• Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.
• Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.
• Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.
• Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

The Center for Immigration Studies releases a new podcast episode focusing on the 287(g) program, an ICE initiative that empowers and trains local law enforcement to help identify and detain illegal aliens involved in criminal activity. The Center’s director of policy studies Jessica Vaughan joins host Mark Krikorian to explain how the program works, why it matters, and what’s next.

Highlights include:

• What is 287(g)?
  • A federal program established in 1996 that deputizes state and local law enforcement officers to perform certain ICE functions under ICE supervision.
• The Three Models:
  • Jail Enforcement Model – Officers in the jail have access to DHS databases to investigate the immigration status of inmates, conduct interviews, and even start the deportation process by issuing charging documents.
  • Warrant Service Officer Model – Officers serve ICE warrants and can detain and transport aliens to ICE custody.
  • Task Force/Street Model – Officers can identify and detain aliens encountered during routine police work. In addition, agencies can address specific crime problems related to illegal immigration, such as drug or human trafficking, gangs, or identity theft, but this model has not yet been reinstated by the Trump administration.
• Training & Oversight:
  • Officers receive ICE training in immigration law and civil rights protections. Agreements are regularly audited to prevent abuse of authority.
• Policy Shifts:
  • Under Biden: No new agreements accepted, funding cut, most existing agreements terminated; at the end of his term only 43 active agreements were still in effect.
  • Under Trump & Post-2024: Program rapidly expanding – now 635 agreements in 40 states, with Texas and Florida mandating statewide participation.
• Why It Matters:
  • 287(g) is a force multiplier that helps areas underserved by ICE or in areas where the criminal alien caseload exceeds ICE’s resources, ensuring criminal aliens don’t slip through the cracks.

In today’s commentary, host Mark Krikorian, the Center’s executive director, highlights the return of the “Maryland man,” Kilmar Abrego Garcia, to face federal prosecution. What can be learned from the legal battle and the coverage and reaction to the case?

Host

Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies

Guest

Jessica Vaughan is the Director of Policy Studies at the Center for Immigration Studies.

Related

Learn more about 287(g) program at ICE.gov

The 287(g) Program: Protecting Home Towns and Homeland

Biden Administration Changes ICE’s 287(g) Page and Admits There is a Hold on Program

We Are All Less Safe: Biden Targets ICE Law Enforcement Program

Kilmar Abrego Garcia Is Back — to Face Federal Prosecution: Key takeaways from the grand jury indictment and the AG’s press conference

Intro Montage

Voices in the opening montage:

• Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.
• Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.
• President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.
• Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.
• Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.
• Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.
• Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.
• Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.
• Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.
• Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.
• Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

With foreign student visas at Harvard and elsewhere in the news, today's episode of Parsing Immigration Policy features Andrew Arthur, the Center for Immigration Studies fellow in law and policy, providing a crash course on the subject. He explains the foreign student admissions process, the responsibilities of schools certified to enroll foreign students, and recent policy issues. With over one million foreign students studying (and working) in America, this episode covers the national security implications of not having proper knowledge of who is being brought in and what they are doing while in the U.S.

Key topics covered:

Admissions Overview

• The role of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP)
• Student's Application to SEVP-certified institutions.
• Issuance of Form I-20 upon acceptance.
• Visa application at U.S. consulates.
• Which branch controls visa issuance?

Role of Designated School Officials (DSOs)

• A DSO plays the role of a "deputized immigration officer."
• Monitoring student status via SEVIS.
• Reporting changes in enrollment or course of study.
• Conflict of interest? Balancing institutional responsibilities with immigration compliance.

Optional Practical Training (OPT)

• Students working under the OPT program are still on student visas.
• Will these students lose their ability to be employed as cheap labor?

Policy Challenges

• Why did the Trump administration revoke Harvard University's SEVP certification?
• Potential impact/lack of impact of the District Court's temporary restraining order (TRO).
• Impact on other schools.

In today's commentary, Mark Krikorian, podcast host and executive director of the Center, highlights today's main illegal immigration challenge: visa overstays. He cites the recent Colorado attack committed by a visa overstayer as an example of the importance of action and describes some of the solutions which are in the reconciliation bill.

Host

Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies

Guest

Andrew Arthur is the Resident Fellow of Law and Policy at the Center for Immigration Studies.

Related

DHS Pulls Harvard’s Student-Visa Certification Authority 

Controversial DHS Program Allows Foreign Students to Train in Sensitive Fields 

There Are 1.5 Million Foreign Students in the United States (and Over a Third Have Work Authorization) 

Not all illegal-alien criminals are border-jumpers

Intro Montage

Voices in the opening montage:

• Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.
• Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.
• President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.
• Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.
• Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.
• Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.
• Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.
• Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.
• Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.
• Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.
• Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

In this week’s episode of Parsing Immigration Policy, Senior Legal Fellow George Fishman explains that verifying Social Security numbers could be the solution to two issues: States’ need for tools to help identify those eligible to vote in the United States and DHS’s need for tools to uncover employers who are knowingly employing illegal aliens.

Voter Eligibility Verification

Executive Order: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it will be giving states and localities the ability to check SSNs of individuals registering to vote and those already on the voter rolls to verify citizenship.

History: Fishman reflects on his role in proposing this idea nearly three decades ago as part of the 1997 Voter Eligibility Verification Act. 

How it will work: State and local governments will be given access to federal databases through an upgrade of USCIS’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system to confirm citizenship.

Employment Eligibility Verification

No-Match Letters: Although the administration has not announced any action on re-instating “no-match” letters, the SSA could revive the practice of notifying employers when a worker’s Social Security number doesn’t match the name listed in the SSA’s database.

History: The episode covers the history of no-match letters, including their origins, past implementations, and abandonment by the Obama and Biden administrations. 

Policy Recommendations: Fishman recommends that SSA resume issuing no-match letters and DHS reissue its regulations instructing employers that they may be found to know that they are employing illegal aliens if they don’t take certain actions upon receipt of no-match letters.

Host

Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies

Guest

George Fishman is the Senior Legal Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies.

Related

The Trump Administration is Empowering States to Verify Voters Citizenship

“Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections”

Reviving No-Match Letters: A powerful tool against illegal employmentIs the Harvard TRO Likely to be Effective?

DHS Pulls Harvard’s Student-Visa Certification Authority

Intro Montage

Voices in the opening montage:

Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.
Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.
President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.
Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.
Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.
Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.
Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.
Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.
Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.
Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".