An inspector general’s investigation examining whether a top Homeland Security official exerted improper influence in a visa program looks bad.
And that’s because it is bad.
Alejandro Mayorkas, former director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, trampled all over policy when he intervened to give certain people preferential access and treatment in visa applications for foreign investors.
Those actions benefited interests pursued by some big names — Terry McAuliffe, now the Democratic governor of Virginia; Anthony Rodham, the brother of Hillary Rodham Clinton; and Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, who was then the Democratic majority leader.
Given the intense scrutiny and controversy surrounding immigration issues, the Obama administration should be working doubly hard to ensure this program’s integrity.
But instead, it circled the wagons and defended Mayorkas. According to The New York Times, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson called Mayorkas “an exceptionally conscientious, honest and patriotic public official” who grew frustrated with “sluggish” bureaucracy.
The inspector general’s report makes it sound like a lot more than that.
“In three matters pending before USCIS, however, Mr. Mayorkas communicated with stakeholders on substantive issues, outside of the normal adjudicatory process, and intervened with the career USCIS staff in ways that benefited the stakeholders,” the report said.
“In each of these three instances, but for Mr. Mayorkas’ intervention, the matter would have been decided differently.”
That hardly sounds like an innocent prod to pencil pushers who hadn’t quite gotten around to making a decision.
In fact, the report points out that allegations of improper interference were echoed by more than 15 Homeland Security employees at varying levels of responsibility. It said the number and variety of witnesses was “highly unusual.”
It also noted that many witnesses would only talk after being assured their identities would remain confidential. That, too, is a damning indication of fear of reprisal.
Immigration policy is a supercharged issue on its own, with Republicans criticizing the president for exercising discretion over deportations of those without legal status.
There is no good reason to add fuel to the fire by letting politics into the visa process and then failing to acknowledge culpability.
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