U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' Progress in Modernizing Information Technology

Department of Homeland Security
Office of Inspector General
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services'
Progress in Modernizing Information Technology
OIG-09-90
July 2009

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Office of Inspector General
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528
July 13, 2009
Preface
The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General was established by the
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-296) by amendment to the Inspector
General Act of 1978. This is one of a series of audit, inspection, and special reports
prepared as part of our oversight responsibilities to promote economy, efficiency, and
effectiveness within the department.
This report addresses the strengths and weaknesses of the Information Technology
modernization for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. It is based on interviews
with employees and officials of relevant agencies and institutions, direct observations, and
a review of applicable documents.
The recommendations herein have been developed to the best knowledge available to our
office, and have been discussed in draft with those responsible for implementation. We
trust this report will result in more effective, efficient, and economical operations. We
express our appreciation to all who contributed to the preparation of this report.
Richard L. Skinner
Inspector General

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Contents/Abbreviations
Executive Summary ............................................................................................................... 1
Background ............................................................................................................................ 2
Results of Audit ..................................................................................................................... 6
Business Transformation Showing Progress.............................................................. 6
Future Concerns for Business Transformation ........................................................ 15
IT Management Strengthened .................................................................................. 27
IT Management Challenges Remain........................................................................ 31
Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 38
Recommendations .................................................................................................... 39
Management Comments and OIG Analysis......................................................................... 39
Appendixes
Appendix A:
Objective, Scope, and Methodology..................................................... 43
Appendix B:
Management Response to Draft Report................................................ 45
Appendix C:
Major Contributors to the Report ......................................................... 53
Appendix D:
Report Distribution ............................................................................... 54
Abbreviations
BSS
Biometric Storage System
CIO
Chief Information Office
DHS
Department of Homeland Security
EA
Enterprise Architecture
EDMS
Enterprise Document Management System
FY Fiscal
Year
IPT
Integrated Project Team
OIG
Office of the Inspector General
OIT
Office of Information Technology
OMB
Office of Management and Budget
SA Solutions
Architect
SIMS
Secure Information Management Service
TPO
Transformation Program Office
USCIS
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

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Contents/Abbreviations
Figures
Figure 1
USCIS “As Is” Benefits Business Process ............................................. 2
Figure 2
USCIS Organizational Structure ............................................................ 4
Figure 3
TPO Organizational Structure ................................................................ 7
Figure 4
Transformation Governance Structure ................................................... 8
Figure 5
Transformation Phases with Timeframes as of March 2008 ................ 10
Figure 6
USCIS Pilots and Proof-of-Concept..................................................... 11
Figure 7
Process Engineering Efforts Since 2007 .............................................. 22
Figure 8
OIT Staffing Levels - December 2008 ................................................. 31
Tables
Table 1
DHS Homeland Security Program Performance Measures.................. 19
Table 2
FY 2007 Transformation Program Performance Measures.................. 19

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OIG
Department of Homeland Security
Office of Inspector General
Executive Summary
In 2005, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
embarked on an enterprise-wide program to transform its fragmented,
paper-based business process to a flexible and efficient process
supported by an integrated technical environment. In November
2006, we reported that USCIS had not finalized an approach for
implementing the transformation, had not centralized information
technology (IT) staff, and placed IT infrastructure upgrades on hold.
We conducted a follow-up audit to our 2006 report to determine
USCIS’ progress in implementing IT transformation initiatives.
USCIS has established a structure to manage transformation
initiatives, finalized acquisition and funding strategies, and
established an approach to deploy new business and IT capabilities.
In addition, USCIS has implemented pilot programs to test a selection
of these capabilities. However, pilot success has been restricted by
ineffective planning and limited implementation reviews. Business
process reengineering efforts needed to support the transformation are
incomplete, and stakeholder participation levels have fluctuated,
resulting in inconsistent business and IT involvement.
USCIS has strengthened overall IT management by restructuring its
Office of Information Technology (OIT) and realigning field IT staff
under this structure. Further, OIT has improved IT governance
functions and issued guidelines for local IT development. However,
the Chief Information Officer (CIO) has been impeded by insufficient
staffing and ineffective IT budget authority. In addition, although
USCIS has made improvements to its IT infrastructure, current efforts
are stalled for lack of funds.
We are recommending that USCIS: communicate its transformation
approach to stakeholders; include stakeholder participation in
defining requirements; assess pilot program results; develop an IT
staffing plan; communicate IT development guidelines; and provide
the CIO budget and investment authority for all USCIS IT
initiatives. Such actions will be critical to support increases in
benefits-processing workloads that may result from proposed
immigration reform legislation.
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Background
Upon its inception on March 1, 2003, the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) assigned responsibility for delivering citizenship
and immigration services to the USCIS. USCIS’ mission is to
secure America’s promise as a nation of immigrants by providing
accurate and useful information to its customers, granting
immigration and citizenship benefits, promoting an awareness and
understanding of citizenship, and ensuring the integrity of the
immigration system.
Each year, USCIS receives more than 7.5 million immigration
applications and petitions for a range of benefits, including
employment authorization, lawful permanent residency, and
naturalization and citizenship. To accomplish its mission, USCIS
has more than 15,000 employees and contractor personnel in more
than 250 offices worldwide, including asylum offices, application
support centers, service centers, forms centers, a National Benefits
Center, and a National Customer Service Call Center.
Generally, the USCIS immigration benefits process occurs in three
stages—Apply, Adjudicate, and Issue—as depicted in Figure 1:
Figure 1: USCIS “As Is” Benefits Business Process
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During the Apply phase, applicants submit paper forms to a USCIS
service center or the Lockbox. These forms are checked for errors
and then manually entered into a computer system for processing.
Once USCIS receives the application fees, fingerprints are collected
and other paper documents, such as birth certificates and drivers’
licenses, are used to verify applicants’ identity. These documents
are kept on file and are manually correlated to the fingerprints and
the application number.
In Adjudication, a USCIS adjudications officer determines whether
an applicant is eligible for benefits under the Immigration and
Nationality Act. Adjudication officers review the paper
documentation submitted in support of an application or petition,
and in some cases, interview the applicant. Adjudication officers
schedule interview appointments electronically or by mailing forms
to applicants. The supporting forms are often sent from a service
center to a local office for processing, sometimes multiple times.
Adjudicators examine the evidence received to determine whether
the applicant is eligible for the benefit requested. When an
application is approved, USCIS produces and issues evidence of that
benefit such as a naturalization certificate.
USCIS recognizes that its paper-based processes hinder its ability to
verify the identity of applicants, efficiently process immigration
benefits, and provide other government agencies with relevant
information on possible criminals and terrorists. In 2005, USCIS
embarked on an enterprise-wide transformation program to
transition its fragmented, paper-based operational environment to a
centralized and consolidated operational environment, using
electronic adjudication. USCIS established the Transformation
Program Office (TPO) to oversee all transformation initiatives
within USCIS. The transformation program’s mission is to improve
customer service and management of customer data by acquiring
electronic capabilities and enabling IT. Figure 2 illustrates the TPO
organization and its relationship to USCIS leadership and other
USCIS offices.
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Figure 2: USCIS Organizational Structure
Because the transformation efforts rely on IT modernization, TPO and
the OIT need to maintain an ongoing partnership to accomplish
transformation goals. OIT’s mission is to provide the USCIS
enterprise with the IT services to fulfill its mission and achieve its
goals and objectives. OIT accomplishes this by providing the
appropriate IT infrastructure, governance, and IT processes.
In September 2005,1 we reported that inefficiencies in the USCIS IT
environment hindered its ability to carry out its immigration benefits
processing mission. USCIS’ largely manual, paper-based processes
resulted in an ineffective use of human and financial resources to
ship, store, and track immigration files. In addition, USCIS
adjudicators used multiple, nonintegrated IT systems to review
application forms and supporting data, which reduced productivity
and data integrity and resulted in the following:
• A backlog of approximately 1.5 million cases,
• Tens of thousands of files that were missing or not easily located,
• Difficulties in verifying the identity of applicants and providing
other government agencies with the information necessary to
identify criminals and potential terrorists, and
• Benefits issued to applicants whose eligibility and potential risk
to national security were not yet determined.
We conducted a follow-up audit in 2006 and reported that, although
USCIS had made limited progress toward achieving its long-term
1 USCIS Faces Challenges in Modernizing Information Technology, OIG-05-41, September 2005.
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transformation goals, it continued to face similar challenges.2
Specifically, USCIS had not finalized an approach for implementing
the transformation, needed to improve strategic planning, had not
centralized IT staffing, and had placed IT infrastructure upgrades on
hold. Based on our work in 2005 and 2006, we recommended that
the Acting Deputy Director, USCIS:
1. Develop a modernization strategy that includes short- and long-
term goals, funding plans, and performance measures to guide
USCIS entities in accomplishing their citizenship and
immigration services missions.
2. Complete implementation of plans to centralize IT by placing all
USCIS IT employees, budgets, and systems under the CIO
authority and control.
3. Ensure that the centralized CIO operation and its IT
transformation plans and systems initiatives are linked to and
effectively support the consolidated USCIS strategy.
4. Review, analyze, and reengineer benefits adjudication activities
to help eliminate duplication, transition from paper-based
processes, better integrate systems, and provide systems access
to the users who need it.
5. Finalize and implement plans to upgrade and standardize IT
hardware and software systems to support reengineered
processes and systems integration and access improvement
initiatives.
6. Ensure representation and participation of users at the various
levels from across USCIS in all process reengineering and IT
transformation activities.
2 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Progress in Modernizing Information Technology, OIG-07-11,
November 2006.
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Results of Audit
Business Transformation Showing Progress
The Government Performance and Results Act of 19933 holds
federal agencies responsible for strategic planning to ensure efficient
operations and effective use of resources to achieve mission goals.
Since our 2006 report, USCIS has taken a number of steps to
improve its transformation program. Specifically, USCIS
established a transformation program structure and governance
approach. Further, USCIS developed a funding mechanism for its
transformation efforts and finalized a plan for acquiring the support
services and equipment necessary to implement new business
processes and enabling technology. USCIS also completed a
concept of operations for transformation and established a strategy
for deploying the transformed business capabilities. Finally, USCIS
implemented transformation program pilots. These actions have
positioned USCIS to better plan and prepare for the next phase in
the agency’s transformation and ultimately achieve its goals of
enhancing national security and fraud detection, providing timely
and accurate customer service, and becoming more operationally
efficient.
Transformation Program Structure and Governance Approach Established
TPO has restructured its organization to provide a more centralized
management of enterprise-wide transformation initiatives. As part
of this revised structure, the TPO is headed by a new Senior
Executive Service Coordinator to ensure effective transformation
program oversight. As shown in Figure 3, the TPO coordinator
reports directly to USCIS leadership, which should result in more
efficient decision-making, executive-level awareness, and agency
commitment to transformation success.
3 Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (Public Law 103-62), August 3, 1993.
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