Bolsters Agency Efforts to Identify and Refer Suspected Immigration Fraud and Abuse

In 2006, the Attorney General called for the creation of a procedure for identifying and referring claims of fraud encountered by EOIR. Thereafter, the EOIR General Counsel appointed an anti-fraud officer to direct EOIR’s anti-fraud efforts. The goals of the program are to protect the integrity of immigration proceedings and to safeguard aliens from falling prey to fraud.

To support these goals, EOIR conducts Fraud Program training for immigration court and Board of Immigration Appeals staff to assist them in identifying suspected fraud in immigration proceedings. The staff then refers identified cases to the Fraud Program, which forwards to investigative agencies those cases with evidence of fraud.

EOIR’s Fraud and Abuse Program provides a systemic response to identifying and referring instances of suspected fraud and abuse by:

• Serving as a point of contact to receive information relating to instances of suspected immigration fraud or abuse. The Fraud Program receives referrals regarding improper activity by aliens, practitioners, and immigration consultants from many sources, including the public. Referrals to the Fraud Program may be sent via e-mail to EOIR.Fraud.Program@usdoj.gov.
• Coordinating with federal and state law enforcement entities and disciplinary authorities to ensure that cases of fraud and abuse are appropriately investigated and prosecuted.
• Coordinating with EOIR’s Attorney Discipline Program in cases that call for the discipline of immigration attorneys and non-attorney practitioners who represent aliens before the immigration courts, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and the Department of Homeland Security.
• Conducting Fraud Program training for EOIR employees and providing guidance and resource materials regarding fraud and abuse issues on an ongoing basis.

The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) is an agency within the Department of Justice. Under delegated authority from the Attorney General, immigration judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals interpre and adjudicate immigration cases according to United States immigration laws. EOIR’s immigration judges conduct administrative court proceedings in immigration courts located throughout the nation. They determine whether foreign-born individuals — who are charged by the Department of Homeland Security with violating immigration law — should be ordered removed from the United States or should be granted relief from removal and be permitted to remain in this country. The Board of Immigration Appeals primarily reviews appeals of decisions by immigration judges. EOIR’s Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer adjudicates immigration-related employment cases. EOIR is committed to ensuring fairness in all of the cases it adjudicates.