U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ur M. Jaddou speaks at a U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on Dec. 4, 2024. Republican members of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement sharply questioned Jaddou on her agency's handling of immigration benefits, applications and petitions. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Republican members of a U.S. House Judiciary Committee panel scrutinized the head of the Department of Homeland Security agency tasked with processing legal pathways to immigration during a contentious hearing Wednesday about the Biden administration’s parole program that grants temporary protections for nationals from some countries.

That program temporarily grants work permits and allows nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to remain in the country if they are sponsored by someone in the United States.

Rep. Tom McClintock of California, the chair of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, accused U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of creating “unlawful” pathways to legal immigration through humanitarian parole programs – an authority presidents have used since the 1950s.

The chair of the full Judiciary Committee, Jim Jordan of Ohio, also grilled USCIS Director Ur Jaddou about if parole programs “of this magnitude” had been used before.

Since President Joe Biden launched the program in 2022, more than 500,000 people have been paroled through that authority.

Jaddou said that historically, presidents have used some kind of parole authority.

The top Democrat on the panel, Pramila Jayapal of Washington state, criticized Republicans for wanting to curtail legal pathways to immigration and argued that the U.S. workforce is reliant on immigrants.

“The truth is that we benefit from the contributions of immigrants and their families in every single field of work,” she said.

Funding structure blamed

USCIS is a roughly $5 billion agency that is primarily funded by filing fees from immigrants – about 96% – not through congressional appropriations, which make up the remaining 4% of its budget.

Jayapal defended the agency, arguing that Jaddou had to rebuild USCIS after the first Trump administration and a budget deficit from the COVID-19 pandemic that closed offices and led to fees plummeting.

The agency handles applications for naturalization, green card applications, family visas, some work visas, humanitarian programs and adoptions of children from non-U.S. countries, among other things.

Jaddou said one of the biggest challenges is that because USCIS operates on fees, if there is a funding crisis it can cause funding to freeze and puts limitations on hiring and overall efficiency.  

“We do not have effective legal immigration systems to meet the needs of the nation,” she said.

Jaddou said, for example, funding constraints limit the number of asylum officers hired.

“It limits us in our humanitarian work,” she said.

Questions about fraud

Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs questioned Jaddou about fraud in the parole program, which caused a temporary pause in applications over the summer to investigate some of the U.S-based sponsors.

“The program was paused for five weeks because of fraud,” Biggs said.

McClintock asked Jaddou if she knew how many parolees had changed in their immigration status and how many paroles have been renewed since the program began in 2022.

Jaddou said she didn’t have those numbers, which frustrated McClintock.

“This is outrageous.” he said. “You were asked these questions in September, you were told in advance of this hearing that they would be asked again, and you were advised to have answers for us. These are basic questions of data.”

California Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren asked what improvements USCIS has made in light of the investigations into U.S.-based sponsors.

Jaddou answered that the agency added biometric requirements such as fingerprints and photos and allowed for automated systems to cross-check Social Security numbers. She said that employees were also re-trained and given guidance to monitor for potential fraud.

“We saw some issues, we took action,” Jaddou said.

New Jersey Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew said he was frustrated with the agency’s backlogs and that it takes years to process green cards.

“I think you’re doing a bad job,” he said to Jaddou. “You’ve hurt legal Americans and legal immigrants and helped some folks who shouldn’t be in this country.”

Van Drew asked if USCIS has diverted its resources from processing other legal pathway applications by focusing on parole applicants.  

Jaddou said the agency hasn’t.

“Well I disagree with you,” he said. 

Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz.,  speaks during a news conference regarding the separation of immigrant children at the U.S. Capitol on July 10, 2018 in Washington, D.C.  (Photo by Alex Edelman/Getty Images)

Raúl Grijalva, the top Democrat on the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee, will not seek to remain in that position in the next Congress, he said in a written statement Monday.

The announcement from Grijalva, an Arizona progressive who has led Democrats on the committee overseeing environmental, public lands and tribal issues for a decade, paves the way for California’s Jared Huffman to take the ranking member role.

Meanwhile, in another major development among Democrats in the House, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland said he would challenge Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York as ranking member on the powerful House Judiciary Committee.

“This is where we will wage our front-line defense of the freedoms and rights of the people, the integrity of the Department of Justice and the FBI, and the security of our most precious birthright possessions: the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the rule of law, and democracy itself,” Raskin said in a “Dear Colleague” letter to lawmakers on Monday.  “I respectfully and humbly ask for your support for my candidacy.”

Grijalva to focus on recovery

Grijalva disclosed in April that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. He returned to Congress last month. His Monday statement noted he would continue to focus on his recovery.

“After much thought, I have decided that it is the right moment to pass the torch as top Democrat” on the House Natural Resources Committee for the 119th Congress, he said. “I do not make this decision lightly, as being elected Ranking Member stands as the honor of my professional career. I will continue to focus on improving my health, strengthening my mobility, and serving my district in what is likely to be a time of unprecedented challenge for our community.”

Grijalva was reelected to the House in November. He plans to serve his full term as a rank-and-file member, a spokeswoman said.

In a statement, Huffman said if he is made ranking member, he would ask the House Democratic Caucus to give Grijalva the title of ranking member emeritus “in recognition of his distinguished career and the enduring importance of his leadership.”

Grijalva was first elected to the House in 2002. He became the Natural Resources Committee’s ranking Democrat in 2015.

Inflation Reduction Act

Grijalva chaired the committee while his party held the majority from 2019 to 2023.

The first half of his chairmanship was marked by investigations of the first Trump administration, including a criminal referral of former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt.

The second half, which occurred during the first two years of the Biden administration amid unified Democratic control of Washington, saw the passage of the climate-focused Inflation Reduction Act that Democrats passed along party lines.

With hundreds of millions available in tax breaks for renewable energy projects, the law represented the largest federal investment in addressing climate change to date.

“I am so deeply proud of the progress that my colleagues and I have achieved in protecting our nation’s rich natural and cultural heritage, advancing justice for communities overburdened by pollution, elevating Indigenous voices and honoring tribal sovereignty, fighting for the decolonization of the U.S. territories, and securing a cleaner, safer climate and energy future for all Americans,” Grijalva said Monday.

Avoids race among Dems

Grijalva, who is also a chair emeritus of the Congressional Progressive Caucus after he co-chaired that group from 2009 to 2019, thanked “colleagues, tribal nations, and environmental organizations” who had supported him in his brief bid to fend off the challenge from Huffman.

Huffman, 60, said last month he would seek to unseat Grijalva, 76, a rarity among House Democrats, who do not use term limits for committee positions and normally strictly adhere to seniority.

Huffman is the top Democrat on the panel’s Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee. He is also a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

A statement from Huffman Monday was full of praise for the outgoing leader and said he would seek to work closely with him in the period of transition.

“For the past twelve years, Rep. Raul Grijalva has been my friend and ally on the Natural Resources Committee,” Huffman wrote. “Working alongside him, I’ve seen his grit, determination, and passion for protecting our nation’s treasured natural resources, and his iron-clad commitment to lifting up frontline and indigenous communities.  He has inspired me and countless others with his passion and the clarity of his values.”

“Future generations will benefit from all that he has fought for and accomplished during his remarkable career,” the statement continued. “Rep. Grijalva leaves big shoes to fill, and I will now dedicate myself to building on his legacy of principled and productive leadership as Ranking Member of the Natural Resources Committee.”

Grijalva’s statement did not name Huffman.

A spokesman for Chairman Bruce Westerman, an Arkansas Republican, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Raskin and Nadler

Raskin in his letter said he was announcing his challenge to Nadler, a longtime top member of the panel, with “respect and boundless admiration,” but also said the upcoming session of Congress would be crucial for the nation’s future and House Judiciary would play a major role.

“We face an administration that would essentially put the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 on steroids. They want to turn the Justice Department and FBI into weapons of not only mass immigrant roundup and deportation but political revenge and prosecution. They would collapse the system of separated powers into an all-powerful monarchical Executive, and convert America from being a defender of democracy and human rights to being an open collaborator with autocrats and authoritarian oppression,” wrote Raskin, a former professor of constitutional law at American University’s Washington College of Law and a member of the Jan. 6 investigative committee in the 117th Congress.

“They want to align us with Putin’s Russia, Kim Jong Un’s North Korea, Xi’s China and Orban’s Hungary. In the 119th Congress, the Judiciary Committee will be the headquarters of Congressional opposition to authoritarianism and MAGA’s campaign to dismantle our Constitutional system and the rule of law as we know it. I hope to be at the center of this fight and—as someone who has battled cancer and chemotherapy—I can tell you that I will never, never surrender.”

Nadler told colleagues last month he would like to continue in his role as ranking member of the committee, Axios reported.