The Biden administration's decision to reopen a controversial immigration program is being made with only “political opinions” in mind, according to one expert.
“All they care about is appearances: bring in more people, get them through the ports instead of moving them between ports, so they can say, 'We have fewer people on the southwest border. We're doing well,'” Laura Reese, director of the Heritage Foundation's Center on Border Patrol and Immigration, told Fox News Digital.
The comments come amid reports that the Biden administration is seeking to reinstate a program that has allowed tens of thousands of migrants from the four countries to fly directly into the U.S. despite being suspended last month due to what NBC News reported was “massive fraud.”
The program allowed immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to apply for entry and temporary work authorization with the help of sponsors who promised to financially support the immigrants once they arrived in the United States.
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Vice President Kamala Harris and President Biden (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin)
But the program was “paused” last month to allow the Department of Homeland Security to “review sponsorship applications.” An initial review found that 3,218 of the roughly 101,000 applications were submitted by “serial sponsors,” who arouse suspicion by sponsoring multiple immigrants with the same address, IP address, or phone number.
In one instance uncovered in the investigation, authorities found that nearly 600 applications had been flagged because they appeared to use the same commercial warehouse address in Orlando, Fla. In another case, they found “concerning trends” from nine IP addresses that may have sponsored far more women than men. In one of those cases, one IP address was linked to an application to sponsor a 14-year-old female, and a total of 14 people were under the age of 18.
The decision to restart the program comes even though officials still have 30,000 applications to review, but NBC News reports that the administration is eager to restart the program because it is believed to help stop migrants from heading to the southern border.
Rees acknowledged that while a strategy to reinvigorate the program might be effective in temporarily reducing illegal border crossings, the rationale for using it for that purpose is purely political.
President Biden speaks during an event with the National Governors Association in the East Room of the White House in Washington, February 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
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The move comes at a critical juncture in this year's presidential election, with Vice President Kamala Harris seeking to project a tougher image at the border amid growing voter dissatisfaction with the Biden administration's handling of border security.
To make matters worse, Reese argued that the administration's vows to vet sponsors more thoroughly won't produce any meaningful change.
“Nobody should believe what they're saying,” Reese said, pointing to the ongoing controversy over refugee vetting after the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan. “This administration has no interest in thorough vetting. They only pay lip service to it because they will be forced to do so when the inevitable problems come up and they are criticized.”
Migrants walk on a highway in Suchiate, Chiapas, southern Mexico, heading north toward the U.S. border on July 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Edgar H. Clemente)
The lack of thorough vetting, including by sponsors, could lead to dangerous consequences, Rees warned.
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“We're going to see more trafficked people, more trafficked children, more abuse, more crime, more illegal immigration,” Reese said. “Whether it's through crime or through tax dollars that go to shelter, education, health care and housing for these people, Americans are going to suffer because of it.”
The White House and Harris' campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment by press time.
Get the latest updates on the ongoing border crisis from the Fox News Digital immigration hub.
