WASHINGTON D.C: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Friday announced the creation of a new Atlanta-based vetting center designed to strengthen the government’s ability to screen out terrorists, criminal aliens and other foreign nationals who could pose threats to public safety or commit immigration fraud.
The agency said the USCIS Vetting Center will centralize enhanced screening operations and allow the government to respond more quickly to shifting national-security risks.
Once fully operational, the center will conduct supplemental reviews of both pending and previously approved immigration applications, drawing on classified and unclassified intelligence, as well as artificial-intelligence tools.
“USCIS’ role in the nation’s immigration system has never been more critical,” Director Joseph B. Edlow said in a statement.
“In the wake of several recent incidents of violence, including a foreign national attacking National Guard service members on U.S. soil, establishing this vetting center will give us more enhanced capabilities to safeguard national security and ensure public safety.”
Edlow sharply criticized the previous administration’s immigration approach, saying the Biden administration “pushed to expedite processes with little regard” for security concerns.
He said the Trump administration reversed course on day one and is “building more protective measures” to keep fraud and threats from entering the system.
The new center will use Department of Homeland Security resources and work with law-enforcement and intelligence agencies.
Reviews will prioritize applications from countries designated by the president as nations of concern.
The move follows several steps made under Executive Order 14161, which aims to strengthen protections against foreign terrorist and national-security threats.
Recent measures include allowing immigration officers to weigh country-specific risk factors when reviewing applicants from 19 high-risk countries, pausing affirmative asylum decisions, increasing hiring for homeland security officers, proposing tougher employment-authorization vetting rules, and creating a cadre of USCIS special agents with arrest and investigative authority.