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Feds probe if MDs help immigrants shirk tests

Officials searching for improper waivers
By Joe Cantlupe
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
October 11, 2005

WASHINGTON – The doctor of a man applying to become a citizen this year in San Diego said his patient couldn't take the required English or history tests because of a head injury.

But investigators became suspicious after looking at the man's background: If he had such a serious problem, they asked, how could he have recently passed his California driver's test?

In another case, a woman's doctor said she was severely mentally disabled and couldn't possibly pass the language test, according to government documents.

But her medical records revealed no such problems.

The two cases are being examined as part of a new push by federal investigators to find physicians who may have improperly helped immigrants obtain citizenship by avoiding the required language or civics tests.

Department of Homeland Security officials declined to say how many doctors are under investigation in San Diego and elsewhere in Southern California.

Applicants for citizenship are required to have a command of written and spoken English and know aspects of U.S. history and government. If they can prove they have a physical, developmental or mental disability, they can obtain a waiver. A licensed medical doctor must certify the immigrant's health.

Over the past several years,14,000 immigrants nationwide who sought to avoid the English and history tests applied for medical waivers. Seventy percent were approved, officials said.

But federal authorities said they have received reports from local officials in California and elsewhere that an increasing number of people are seeking waivers for the tests. Since the investigation has just begun, they don't have exact numbers yet.

"Actually, we are looking more critically at all the waivers coming in because of the increase in numbers," said Christopher Bentley, a spokesman in Washington, D.C., for Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is part of Homeland Security. "Across the board there is always the potential for fraud."

In addition to scrutinizing citizenship applications, immigration officials are examining records of physicians who may be helping immigrants to improperly avoid the tests.

Among those are physicians cited in the past by the California Medical Board for a range of offenses – from producing sloppy paperwork to mishandling patients, officials said. The doctors have not been identified.

"We are looking at the suspected fraud and compiling information. It's on our radar screen," said Lauren Mack, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Diego.

Mack said she could not discuss details of the investigation. But government documents reveal some aspects of the inquiry.

One document said a doctor gave a waiver to a man because he had "extreme difficulty with processing or learning novel information and is permanently impaired." That patient passed the written portion of the California driver's exam.

Another doctor reported that a patient suffered from major depression and was "unable to learn and/or demonstrate knowledge of English and U.S. history because he had severe difficulty processing information and retrieving facts."

On the man's naturalization application, he said he had never worked. But investigators determined he had a job and had passed the written California driver's exam.

Some applicants may have participated in the scam so they could continue receiving Supplemental Security Income, officials said. Those are federal funds designed to help blind, aged and low-income disabled people meet basic needs.