WASHINGTON – Today, Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Rodney Scott, regarding a recent report by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG) entitled, “CBP Has Not Evaluated the Security Risks of Interview-Waived Nonimmigrant U.S. Visa Holders.”

The DHS OIG report found that “between March 2020 and March 2024, the Department of State (DoS) issued more than 12 million nonimmigrant U.S. visas without conducting in-person interviews or collecting fingerprints.”

“These disturbing findings raise serious questions about DoS’s and CBP’s awareness of and ability to track the recipients of the 12 million nonimmigrant visas,” Chairman Johnson wrote.

“The fact that millions of nonimmigrant foreign nationals obtained a U.S. visa without undergoing the usual vetting process poses a significant national security risk,” Chairman Johnson continued.

Chairman Johnson is seeking more information about the millions of nonimmigrant visas that were issued while standard interviewing and fingerprinting procedures were waived. The chairman has requested that the State Department and CBP provide his office details about their efforts to identify, locate, interview, and fingerprint the nonimmigrant visa holders that did not undergo a thorough vetting process. 

The full text of the letter can be found here.

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