Study: Abusive doctors OK’d to screen migrants
The agency overseeing the nation’s legal immigration system put immigrants and the American public at risk because it has poor controls for verifying that immigrants applying for green cards meet health-related standards, according to a new government watchdog report.
The agency inadequately screened doctors who conduct medical health exams of immigrants applying for
green cards, an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General found.
The inadequate screening allowed some doctors with histories of patient abuse or criminal records to conduct the screenings, the office found, according to its report.
Some of the doctors allowed to perform medical health exams included a Georgia physician who once tried to hire a hit man to kill a dissatisfied patient, a Texas physician who sexually exploited female patients and a California physician who diluted vaccines, the report found.
As a result, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services could be placing immigrants at risk of abuse from doctors, the report found.
What’s more, the report found that USCIS Immigration Services Officers are accepting incomplete and inaccurate medical forms submitted by immigrants applying for green cards because officers are not adequately trained and the agency does not enforce its policies.
As a result, the agency could also be exposing the U.S. population to “contagious or dangerous health conditions from foreign nationals erroneously granted lawful permanent resident status,” the report found.
USCIS has the authority to determine which immigrants are allowed into the United States and which temporary immigrants qualify to remain in the United States permanently, a process known as “adjustment of status.”
Immigrants who seek to adjust their status must pass a medical exam intended to protect the health of the U.S. population.
The medical exams are performed by physicians who apply to USCIS to be designated as “civil surgeons.” Doctors who apply must meet certain requirements.
“In vetting physicians who apply to become civil surgeons, USCIS neither ensures physicians meet eligibility requirements for designation as civil surgeons, nor has it prevented physicians with a history of patient abuse or criminal records from being designated as civil surgeons,” the report found.
Approximately 19 percent of the 1,337 physicians designated as civil surgeons between March 11, 2014, and June 30, 2017, lacked evidence to prove they met requirements to conduct medical exams, according to a statistical sample of applications reviewed by government auditors, according to the report.
Government auditors found that 132 of the 5,569 active civil surgeons may pose a health or safety risk because of a history of patient abuse or criminal record, the report said.
The report attributed the high number to a failure by USCIS to adequately review physician histories, including taking into account medical board disciplinary history before designating physicians as civil surgeons.
Government auditors found 11 physicians designated by USCIS as civil surgeons active as of June 30, 2017, who had been excluded by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General from participating in federally funded health care programs for various offenses.
The offenses included convictions related to fraud, patient abuse and neglect, and defaulting on health education loans or scholarships, the report said.
In 2014, under the Obama administration, USCIS centralized the civil surgeon program and introduced the current process requiring physicians to use so-called I-910 forms to apply to be designated civil surgeons.
At the time, the agency “grandfathered” more than 4,200 civil surgeons, thereby allowing them to maintain their designation without verifying they met eligibility requirements, USCIS officials said.
According to USCIS officials, these civil surgeons were not required to complete an I-910 form.
In a letter to the Department of Homeland Security, USCIS Director Lee Francis Cissna said the agency concurs with recommendations to tighten controls, including developing stricter requirements for civil surgeons.
The agency “remains committed to the integrity of our lawful immigration system, and the adjustment of status of an individual to a permanent resident is a core component of the immigration system,” he said in the letter. “USCIS is dedicated to identifying applicants who have medical grounds of inadmissibility, as determined through a medical examination completed by a properly vetted civil surgeon. USCIS agrees with the OIG that further actions are needed to enhance the medical admissibility screening process and is already taking these actions.”