The Biden administration may restart an immigration program that it previously paused in order to review suspected mass fraud, despite thousands of applications still requiring a review.
Last month, the administration announced that it had "temporarily paused" a program started 18 months beforehand that allowed Haitians, Cubans, Venezuelans, and Nicaraguans to apply for temporary work authorization and legal entry into the United States over concerns about large-scale fraud.
A Department of Homeland Security review obtained by NBC News found that nearly 101,000 sponsor applications from residents of those countries, as well as Ukraine, came from 3,218 people known as serial sponsors out of more than 2.6 million applications.
In one instance, almost 600 application were flagged for using the same address, which was for a commercial warehouse in Orlando, Florida. Some applications also used the same Social Security numbers as others, including numbers that belong to the deceased.
A source told the media outlet that the Biden administration is considering reviving the program because they believe it helps deter illegal immigration from those countries.
A DHS spokesperson said in a statement that the department "has review mechanisms in place to detect and prevent fraud and abuse in our immigration processes."
They added, "DHS takes any abuse of its processes very seriously. Where fraud is identified, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will investigate and litigate applicable cases in immigration court and make criminal referrals to the Department of Justice."