Improvements are needed in the Citizenship and Immigration Service’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program in order to accurately determine the immigration status of individuals that are otherwise ordered deported, the DHS inspector general has said.
It said SAVE provided information that was sometimes outdated and erroneous about an individual’s immigration status to benefit-granting and licensing agencies.
The IG’s review of SAVE confirmations from October 2008 – April 2012 of individuals who had been ordered deported but remained in the U.S. identified a 12 percent error rate in immigration status verification (SAVE erroneously verified that an individual had lawful immigration status one out of every eight times).
USCIS has reportedly agreed with recommendations to determine what data interfaces are necessary for SAVE to reflect the timely status of individuals who have lost status as a result of a final removal order or expiration of time permitted to file an appeal.
The agency also agreed to other recommendations, including to conduct periodic evaluations to validate the accuracy of SAVE initial verification, to analyze the periodic evaluation results, and to coordinate with offices within DHS such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement that also manage pertinent data such as administrative final orders of removal in order to ensure data is up to date and accurate for verification purposes.
