the state department strongly supports these efforts by dhs/uscis. this subcommittee's request for testimony included questions pertaining to the congressionally-mandated special immigrant visa (siv) program, which facilitates the admission of u.s. government- affiliated foreigner nationals, including iraqis and afghans, to the united states. the siv program, which is distinct from the u.s. refugee admissions program, is managed by the state department's bureau of consular affairs. while i am not in a position to address siv processing issues, i can tell you that siv applicants also undergo multiple, extensive layers of security and counterterrorism review. whether through the administration of the u.s. refugee admissions program or the special immigrant visa program, the state department makes its first priority the safety of the american people, who have a right to expect that their government will undertake all available efforts to safeguard their security. we at the department of state are proud of the measures we have taken in recent years to st

that is what supports the refugee resettlement program for uscis. my understanding is that the interpretation of sequestration is that it most likely will affect appropriate funds but also our fee-funding. our budget office is in discussion with dhs headquarters on how it will affect us. >> thank you. we know our republican colleagues will do the right thing and make sure we don't go over the fiscal cliff. i have complete confidence. >> as dubai. -- as do i. i appreciate as well -- there are so many aspects to this year and want to follow on a couple lines of questioning. i opened the by identifying this look into the past while of the same time we appreciate the continuing instability tore out the region as we go to the future. both create challenges to our immigration process, those who have already gained entrance to the united states, those who may be looking at in the future. i identified testimony from robert miller which was -- robert mueller -- it said individuals who may have resettled here in the united states that have some association wi

sequestration will affect uscis. >> thank you. we know our republican colleagues are going to do the right thing and make sure that we don't go over the cliff. i have complete confidence. spent as july. -- >> as july. i appreciate as well, there's so many aspects to this hearing, and i do want to follow up on a couple of ones. i open by identifying this looking to the past, while at the same time we appreciate the continuing instability throughout the region as we go to the future. and both create challenges to our immigration process, those who have already gained entrance to the united states, those who we may be looking at in the future. i identified testimony from robert mueller which was public reported, and effective as accurate. it was before the house intelligence committees, and individuals who may have resettled here in the united states that have some association with al qaeda and iraq. and then he further, the report indicated that there was some 300 names of iraqi refugees for further investigation. so, mr. bartlett,

military coalition forces, uscis develop partnerships.first, we establish a relationship with the department of defense to augment our biometric screening by checking against the dod database. it includes fingerprint records, captured in fear and iraq and elsewhere so it's infallible resource for us to identify a wide array of relevant information. for example, it includes data ranging from individuals who have been detained by u.s. forces, to those who have been employed by u.s. forces. and much more. in addition, we reached out to the office of intelligence and analysis, which we call i in a for sure going to take advantage of the expertise and their knowledge of the broader intelligence community. working with ina has enable us to identify potential screening capability to opt in a critical intelligence information and to list their services and our enhanced officer training. as a result we have been able to enhance our refugee articles over time for both iraqi applicants and for other nationalities. for example, in the fall 2008, we l

>> uscis has clearly indicated that they will not share an applicant's information with i.c.e. and that is a protection. immigration is looking at whether the person presents a public safety concern if they have a criminal history association with gangs or terrorist organizations. they will take that into conversation when deciding whether to take that case to i.c.e. if an applicant does not present any of those issues, otherwise meets the critericriteria, they under go a process that will hopefully lead to approval. >> a lot of students are happy this has gone through. anything else coming down the pike out of washington? if there's a year for overall n encomprehe comprehensive reform, this is the year. >> the latino vote is very powerle if and that message resonated very strongly with the republican part y and the obama administration has indicated that immigration reform is a top priority. it remains to be seen whether the fiscal cliff discussions as well as gun violence whether immigration reform will take a back burner. that is the job of advocates and pretty much everyone

or uscis security checks denied. sorry. all these things and more can all lead you to the sorry.can all lead you to the stop sign where you fail on your attempted journey through what is now the legal immigration system in the united states. there are also in this chart all these little clocks embedded in some of the lines to show you places where even though you might be able to proceed from one step to the next, there is a clock there. there is a long wait time in between those two steps, even if you get to proceed. and of course those little clocks start to add up as your life goes by you. so this is a freakin' nightmare, right? to a certain extent, this too is a scare chart. this is be afraid of the complexity of this system. but you know what? this chart is actually also kind of true. and even if you try to not deliberately play up how complex and difficult this system is, even if you don't try to visually obfuscate the paths by which people emigrate to this country, even if you try to look not as complex looking as possible, but rather as clear as possible, it is still unbe

uscis, et cetera, that just process the applications, do those background checks.lso think that there are some real discussions that are happening right now about the possibility of creating more visas. it is worth noting that right now every year the united states makes available 120,000 visas for adults who would like to come to this country to live and work. that may sound like a relatively large figure but when you really think about that, 120,000 visas for the entire country each year. so, you know, certainly i think that's going to be a focus area in terms of gist the shejust th number of visas that are issued. >> raul, give us some of your personal reflections on the president's speech today. >> i thought he hit all the right notes. when he talked about erasing the divide between them and us. he talked about the undocumented being americans except they don't have the papers. that's the language that dreamers used. now it's bm mainstream. he also threw down a challenge saying if they -- if the senate cannot get their bill passed, he will introduce his own. so

and surprisingly uscis and large numbers as well. as a result, since 2006 backlogs of court cases have nearly doubled. as of november, 2012, there were 321,000 pending cases and these cases had been pending on average for 529 days. in 777 days for those cases where relief is ultimately granted. these kinds of delays still serve u.s. immigration and enforcement goals and punish those who are ultimately granted relief. yet, it's not clear how this problem will be fixed. immigration judges now have dockets of more than is,000 cases each. judges -- 1,000 cases each. judgets have dockets that are far -- judges have dockets that are far larger. the laws have become more complicated over the years and the cases are also factually complex. there has been a d.o.j. hiring freeze in place since january of 2011, although eoir can backfill d.o.j. positions. on the other hand, we are seeing that filings of removal cases in court have decreased over the last year by 25%. the main point i wanted to make on courts is there is an imbalance of resource