The House Judiciary Committee launched an investigation Thursday into the Biden Administration’s “Welcome Corps” program, which acts as an avenue for illegal migrants to enter the country via sponsorship from current U.S. citizens.
The letter, obtained exclusively by The Federalist, explained that the committee is concerned about the “potential abuses of the Welcome Corps, which could undermine both national security and the integrity of the U.S. immigration system.”
Welcome Corps Investigation by The Federalist
“Despite allowing more than 7 million illegal aliens into the United States since January 2021, the Biden Administration continues to create avenues to fast track additional aliens into the country,” the letter reads.
The letter cited the Welcome Corps as one of those avenues and noted that “as of May 1, 2024, more than 15,000 private sponsorship applications had been submitted from all 50 states” through the program.
The Biden State Department “acknowledged in a previous briefing with the [Judiciary] Committee, such a massive resettlement program is vulnerable to fraud and exploitation.”
According to the Welcome Corps website, “Working in groups of at least five people, sponsors come together to help refugees transition to life in their new community, all along the way supported by tools and resources from the Welcome Corps as well as ongoing guidance from resettlement experts.”
Addressed to Assistant Secretary Julieta Valls Noyes of the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, the committee asked the State Department for additional information regarding the program to hopefully discern the threat it potentially poses to American citizens and sovereignty.
Requests include “The total number of Welcome Corps sponsorship applications, disaggregated by the refugee’s country of nationality and the country in which the refugee resides,” as well as “the total number of fraud reports the Welcome Corps has received since the program was launched in 2023.”
The committee also asked for information regarding the bureau’s response to instances of admitted fraud within the Welcome Corps and how that fraud has been addressed since the program’s creation.
Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Tom McClintock, chairman
of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, authored the letter. The committee asked that all requested materials and additional information be provided by July 5.
The Welcome Corps not only integrates illegal migrants into American communities but also helps set them up with jobs and opportunities to pursue a college education.
“Through this program, the Welcome Corps matches qualified refugees with U.S employers, providing them with concrete job offers” as well as “a path to permanent legal status in the United States for refugee students.”
The Welcome Corps itself is also concerned about corruption.
“Welcome Corps has warned individuals to ‘[b]eware of scams and anyone who asks for or offers payment or services to complete an application,’” the letter said.
Kamden Mulder is a summer intern at The Federalist. She is a senior at Hillsdale College pursuing a degree in American Studies and Journalism.
