At DHS, $1+ Billion and a Decade’s Work Equals . . . One Electronic Form Online
Over a decade ago, DHS decided to modernize its immigration processing. So DHS decided to initiate a project that would make many of the required forms available online, and to allow them to be filled out online as well – with answers stored digitally. Associated fees were also to be payable online.
The system was originally projected to cost around $500 million, and to have been completed two years ago. The reality? Well, that’s a bit different.
Today, the system DHS commissioned has one form that can be filled out online. (Two other forms briefly were available online, but were pulled due to technical issues.) DHS’s system also will accept a single fee online. The remaining nearly 100 forms and their associated fees (if any) today remain paper only.
The system is now expected to be ready in four years – maybe – after having taken close to twice the amount of time originally estimated. And the total cost is expected to be approximately $3.1 billion – or around 6 times the original estimated cost.
The Washington Post yesterday had a longish article describing this debacle. You won’t enjoy reading it. But IMO you should read it anyway.
Why? Well, after all . . . you and I are paying for this abomination. It literally is “our tax dollars at work” – loosely speaking, of course, since not much real “work” seems to be getting done here.
Category: "Your Tax Dollars At Work", Government Incompetence
This kind of work is the meat and potatoes of internet commerce – start a session by creating a user ID or logging in, enter some stuff, save the data, collect the money, close the session. All in multiple languages.
It is inconceivable to me that they could spend $5 million on such a product, let alone $500 million. I would start the bidding at $50,000 accept $100k, have a viable product in a couple of months, and if procurement could get their thumb out, the vendor would get paid on time and make money.
We are getting screwed.
Maybe I will read the WaPo article and figure out which major consulting firm created this abortion and how many South Asian guys it took to get that one form together. Ya’ know, the big consulting companies cannot make a profit if they have to hire US workers.
Word. I can’t add any better Richard.
This sounds like the work of Moochelle’s Princeton gal pal Toni Townes-Whitley.
You know, the same gal pal who got the 678 million dollar no bid contract to put together the Obummer Care website.
We all know how that turned out.
Well, it wasn’t no-bid. Here’s more information: http://www.factcheck.org/2013/12/michelle-obama-and-cgi-federal/
Okay, I skimmed the article. The prime contractor is IBM. I used to work for those people doing consulting work so I know how they do things. Based on the article, IBM sees this as a black hole – they can throw infinite resources at this and get paid for it no matter what comes out. Nothing can go wrong for them unless DHS cancels the contract and there is probably a big government cost to cancel the gig. IBM is also providing hardware. This kind of work makes IBM profitable.
Someone is blaming the methodology — the “waterfall approach”. That is pretty disingenuous. I can waste huge amounts of money via agile too, under the circumstances the methodology doesn’t really matter.
There is a fundamental issue here. The problem is a huge paperwork load. This is created by huge numbers of people who DHS handles. The problem with automation is: most of those people have no access to a computer and have no skills to use one. So even if IBM brought it in for the budgeted number, there would still be huge paperwork load because most of the target users cannot use the system. They are building a $3 billion dollar car for blind people who cannot drive. This is the kind of project that large consulting companies dream about.
Did FirsTech Solutions supply the Red Hat Linux for this project? Just wondering.
On another note, my wife is an immigrant. I studied about the process and we filled out the forms ourselves, etc. She became a citizen in the minimum amount of time required. Once she was a citizen, we invited he folks for a visit. Once they were here (legally), we took them to a public health doctor and he filled out some forms and put them in a sealed envelope. Then, I went to the INS counter in Anchorage Alaska and requested permanent residency status for my in-laws. The gal at the counter put down he doughnut and told me that this could not be done! I told her that I was confident it could be done. She disappeared into the “back room” for about 10 minutes, and then reappeared, thoroughly sanctimonious, and said, “Well, it can be done, but there are a lot of forms to fill out and they must be screened by a doctor that specializes in public health, and there is a fee.” At that point, I placed a 12″ stack of paper on the counter, which included the sealed envelopes from the doctor, with a check on top made out in the correct amount. Three weeks later, my in-laws had permanent residency status. They have been working and paying taxes ever since.
Whenever possible, I like to choke the bureaucrats on their own paperwork. I hope IBM doesn’t screw this up.
Another example of our tax dollars [NOT] at work.
At DHS, ICE is the component that deports folks and USCIS is the component that welcomes them into the country. Kind of like the Prosecutors office vs the Public Defenders office. I worked at ICE, it was almost impossible to get USCIS to share information with us when we were looking for fugitives. But if it’s any consolation, USCIS is 99% self funded, i.e. their budget comes from the fees that they charge applicants. They still piss money away like it’s water, but most of it isn’t tax money.
Two problems with that “it isn’t tax money” assertion.
1. While it’s technically not “tax money”, user fees are still Federal income. If money from that source is wasted, it’s still wasted Federal money.
2. Money is fungible. A dollar in such income can potentially be used for multiple different purposes, some of which may obviate the need for funds from other sources. (That’s true even within the Federal government; it’s just harder to pull off due to budgetary laws and regulations.) Conversely, a dollar in non-tax income, such as that from user fees, that’s p!ssed away isn’t available to offset appropriated funding – leading generally to the need for more appropriated funds.
Government waste is still government waste. And when the government is running a deficit, ALL such waste adds to the Federal debt.
Not defending it, just explaining it. By law, all of the fees have to stay within the USCIS component. p.s. I love the word “fungible”. Especially the way you use it in a sentence Hondo. No wonder you are such a chick magnet. 🙂
I understand that. However, whether intentional or not your explanation implies this waste has no net impact on Federal finances since it comes from user fees vice taxes. That is incorrect. It does.
This project has p!ssed away an average of $100M a year for a decade, with essentially nothing to show for it (they’ve pretty much started over). Above, you indicated that USCIS gets about 90% of its funding from user fees. If its total budget is a hypothetical $1B annually, that means this project has wasted enough to make USCIS fully self-supporting for a decade – and save Uncle Sam $1B in the process.
As the late Sen. Everett Dirksen put it: “A billion here, a billion there – pretty soon you’re talking real money.” That’s true even in the Federal government.
Here’s my take on what happened, based on a number of decades observation and direct experience with Federal IT:
(1) half-baked initial idea followed by
(2) poorly-defined requirements (probably due to time and political pressure to “move out smartly”) followed by
(3) a vendor coming along selling a song-and-dance routine to a naive govt IT manager followed by
(4) a badly written contract followed by
(5) poor initial performance by the vendor followed by (or perhaps caused by)
(6) multiple changes/requirements creep followed by
(7) political pressure (2012 election) to roll out something so the Administration can have a “success story” followed by
(8) “hit the reset/redesign button” as the original design fails abjectly. Net result: a freaking billion spent, with nothing to show for it.
Yep, all true Hondo. Saw many examples of this in various forms during my time at ICE. But it’s not the exclusive realm of DHS. Virtually all of the 3 letter agencies indulge in copious amounts of overspending. Remember the IRS’s “upgrades?”
I think it’s mostly the result of no incentive to be more efficient coupled with the attitude of “it’s not my money”
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/12-trillion-spent-on-it-upgrades-but-irs-feds-still-use-dos-windows-97/article/2568906
No argument. And it’s not limited to the “3 letter” agencies. All of the Federal government seems to act that way from time to time.
I guess people have forgotten where the Federal government gets its money. Well, at least the part it doesn’t borrow.
As RM3 commented earlier, USCIS is closer to 99% funded by petition fees. It’s said that they do about 8 million petitions per year. I would have guessed the average petition fee was closer to $750, but slightly dated math places it at half that (the USCIS budget in 2008 was $2.6 billion).
It’s petition fee money, including enough of mine (four immigrants, and we’re not done yet), that is being burned here…
Self funded my ass. Its extortion. Plain and simple. Not always, but the cost of gaining Permanent Resident status can be upwards of $30,000 and 5 years of paperwork.
Meantime, during the bulk of the process they are not allowed to ‘Work’ per say. Two of them I did were getting a degree, both carried a 4.0 and 3.8 GPA. Not permitted to have an income, and still after graduation it was 2 years of paperwork to get PR. That system is a money grab for the people who run it.
On two different occasions I was told in writing that the decision they rendered could not be appealed. Ya, well thats bullshit, money seems to appeal anything with these people.
This is the kind of case which suggests government contracts should NEVER be cost plus, but have escalating penalty clauses. I understand change notices, and there have to be exceptions for that – but there are too many of these millions-turned-to-billions contracts for which no one is ever held accountable. And if the fault is the Feds’? Firing should be the order of the day, with prejudice (publicly banned from any other Federal employment ever) in egregious cases.
Cost-plus contracts have their place; ditto time and materials. Activities that are by nature ill-defined (e.g., R&D efforts and/or on-call supplementary tech support) are some examples.
They have major issues, however, when the government uses them for developing something and also does a p!ss-poor job of (a) defining requirements and/or (b) allows “requirements gone wild” (these often go hand-in-hand). In those cases, cost-plus contracts can easily turn into little more than a cash cow for the contractor which produces little of value for the government.
Kinda like what happened here, actually. I don’t know what type of contract this was (if the article said, I can’t recall) – but I’d bet you’re correct that it was some type of “cost plus” contract vehicle (or maybe time & materials).
Based on my employment status, all I can is:
This is the shape of my surprized face mouth:
O
Out!
I have been through the process so many times I lost count. J1, H1B, PR, and countless other nightmares. 1 of them required me to prove I had at lest $15,000 in a bank account to prove support. I had to keep it there for a year and a half. It showed I could provide support but was not allowed to use it for support or any other purpose.
You have no idea how hard it is to keep stripp… I mean working professionals here unless you go through the process. I anyone want to know why there are so many undocumented workers here, try doing it the correct way once.
Don’t worry, I did my all to get the best of them out of Ukraine before Putin showed up. Its been kinda crowded around here.
Does marrying them make it any easier?
The only experience I have is with my wife and her parents. Anchorage AK made it easy for us I think…no lines around buildings, etc.
It really depends on when or if they have a particular visa. There is a fiance visa. It generally gives 90 days to get married while here. Then about 2 years later there is an interview to determine if they get PR.
Usually if it was all bullshit there will be no PR. Wedding pictures, joint bank accounts, joint tax filing, etc get looked at.
I would’t say easier, just different paperwork and fees, pay the fees, lots of fees, because you know, its all self funded right?
While I’m sure you married for love Dave, I can tell you from my time working Fugitive Operations at ICE that marriage fraud is huge. One of my favorite cases, a Caucasian woman who spoke not one word of Hindi “married” an Indian national. During the interview we asked how they communicated and she said “the language of love is universal”. lol. I can recall many other examples, including one where we asked if they had consummated the marriage yet (it had been over a year) and the male applicant said “I’m shy, I’m waiting for her to make the first move.”
“Huge” is subjective, and of course, you saw the cases for enforcement. It’s been around a quarter of all legal immigrants with U.S. citizen spouses annually for at least a decade (on average that would be 200,000 to 250,000 per year). Marriage fraud is there, but the vast majority are legit. Specific countries have much higher rates of marriage fraud than others, and ironically a K-1 is the quickest way, also being the most fraud-prone.
Damn, make the first move. Most of the people I have dealt with come here on a J1 at first, or at least the first time.
The idea that immigrating to the US is a bad thing somehow just puzzles me. Almost every one of the ones I have dealt with have a college degree, often a masters degree.
Maybe if the system wasn’t so fucked up, well educated, hard working, responsible people could come to this country without all the bullshit.
I had one who was enrolled in a University have to leave half way through her education because of screwed up paperwork.
She was paying twice the normal tuition, subsidizing the normal students tuition by doing so. 4.0 GPA. No, this system is screwed up royally.
The programs through the YMCA and Camp America started off as a good thing. Now, it has become a money grab for all sides involved.
In Ukraine they have been giving away PR Visa’s in a lottery drawing for years. Yep, win the lottery and go to America. Sanctioned by the US. Of course a little bit of money in the Ukraine can increase your odds of winning. Its all bullshit. Complete and utter bullshit.
Actually it is the highest-educated immigrants ever within the last year. Two-thirds of all legal immigrants are related to U.S. citizens. More immigrants come from Asia within the last couple years.
You are referring to the Diversity Visa program capped at 55,000 world-wide per year. Only countries that have had immigration levels below 50,000 total over the span of five years are eligible. And if you’re referring to corruption, it is entirely run from the United States.
But I’ve heard similar false stories of the Mexican government giving away U.S. immigrant visas in the barrios of Mexico too…
You got to be shitting me. If Ukraine has had less than 50,000 try to come to this county annually in the last 5 years……there is a reason for that.
One post on any Ukrainian forum claiming to have a PR visa available will get that many responses.
Less than 50,000 cumulative for all of the last five years. Visas are issued by the U.S. State Department. Sure, there’s likely dozens of scams to make you think you are getting an Immigrant Visa, but the system is run pretty tight – you just can’t substitute someone in mid-stream.
It does not work that way. In order for them to even apply for the program, there are all kinds of people that need to be ‘paid’.
It is a way of life in Ukraine. Everything is that way. The US might even issue the Visa, lots of luck getting out of the country without paying people. Never going to happen.
Well, maybe if they never ever wanted to return. The better get a US Citizenship because they are not going back to Ukraine.
There is another point here to be made. If someone consummates or not is none of the Governments concern.
If I was asked such a stupid question I would show you a video of it. But, thats just me. Here is the thing, how often do you fuck your wife? My guess is most Americans would find that none of your business. However, if an American is fucking their non American wife that somehow becomes a legit question. Nah, the Gubberment has no business asking such a thing.
Maybe I missed that “Fuck your wife” clause in the Constitution. Who I have sex with, how often, where, and in what manner I choose to do it is none of your concern or anyone else unless I make it so.
If the cost of protecting freedom is Freedom itself, what is the point?
It is actually worse. I made use of the one online form to replace my green card. That was back in April. Since then, at least every other week I have received an email from DHS touting their sale de jour. Yes, they are offering regular sales and discounts on US citizenship!
It took about 10 months to receive a replacement Resident Card for my stepdaughter (added biometrics at age 14). You didn’t naturalize through the military? That’s the only discount I am aware of, it is rather nice that you can pay by credit card now.
I’m restating that all of this funding is from petition fees. It’s why the USCIS staff are all money-grubbing crooks. Don’t go further down “the immigrants are causing us taxpayers to lose money” path, at least in this particular case.
DHS….one of the worst places to work for in the government. They can’t get anything write.
*right….im horrible!
Considering the project is an eforms project, maybe “write” is fairly apropos. (smile)
This is just another clear indication the Federal Government bureaucracy and politicians are complete failures. Why is it US citizens have an enrollment period for Obamacare, but non-citizens have none for applying for citizenship? First step 90 days Jan 1 of every year for applying. First 500,000 taken; after this enrollment closed for the year. Only put terminals directly connected to DHS in certain US cities and countries, where we have embassies, deemed that year according to need. Each year move these terminals to different embassies in new countries and new US cities. The clear detractor is if they cannot use the machine, not interested. Oh and cancel the contract today! Pay IBM off and call up Amazon. How difficult could it possibly be for Amazon to tailor it’s software for such a task. Probably also need to eliminate bunches of forms as needless, outdated and a source of abuse/fraud.
You’re confusing residency with citizenship. Within the last several years more than half gaining residency are adjusting status from within the United States on non-immigrant visas. A Legal Permanent Resident has to been in that status for five years before being able to naturalize, three years if married to a U.S. citizen.
There are almost nine million Legal Permanent Resident eligible to naturalize that have not, including my family members (coming up on eight years as LPRs)…
Very true. That is also my experience. Many, I would even say most do not want to become US Citizens for valid reasons.
I didn’t know half of them came from other Visa’s already here. That does not surprise me. Honestly, I am a little surprised that figure is not higher than that.
In reality, all Legal Permanent Residents are work-authorized, so it is typical to wait until the Resident Card needs to be renewed (the card expires, the status does not) to just go with naturalization instead. Both cost about the same amount. As I said earlier, at least naturalization fees can be paid by credit card now.
The thing about immigration is that trends stay about the same, and take time to change. Within at least the last decade the it has always been over half, but it is an increasing trend to be present on a non-immigrant visa (mostly ‘K’-class visas, with some “visitors” also meeting U.S. citizens) for an “Adjustment of Status” to Permanent Residency.
Immigration is also steadily decreasing. At the point we went through the “busiest” U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez (the only location in Mexico for Immigrant Visas, or categories leading to Permanent Residency), they were completing between 800 to 1000 petitions every weekday that wasn’t a U.S. or Mexican holiday. They moved to an even larger facility, then the bottom dropped out: Legal and illegal immigration combined from Mexico are “net zero” for the last few years; More are going back or being deported than are coming.
We would usually bring 10-30 a year here on J1 work visa’s. That process was fairly straight forward. Usually we used the YMCA or Camp America programs who sponsored them. Started doing that around 94 or so. Mostly from Europe but a few from China, Brazil, etc. In total we probably brought 300 here like that. Out of that many somewhere around 30 are here with PR now or have become citizens. The ones that wanted to stay that were on a J1 obviously had issues. F1 or M1 was usually the reason. Like you pointed out most of them did not want to stay permanently, the wanted a degree from a US University. That process is a major pain in the ass. If they kept a GPA above 3.5 we would sponsor them. Never had one that didn’t. The system is riddled with blunders. I have lost count of how many times we paid fees for things that in the end were not required but were told to do so by the first tier employees that answer the phone. They are almost useless in most cases. If you persist long enough and get through to an actual agent then things begin to happen. There is no way to even contact anyone during parts of the process. No phone number, no email, and that is stated in their letter. You can write if you like. Checking your status online is a joke. The status for approval usually changes a day or two after they get their card and already know about it. All I can say is, whatever takes 2 years to get a ‘conditional’ resident status needs to be fixed. Of course it goes much faster if a Law Firm gets involved. That requires money, many of these people do not have. In most former Soviet countries to include Poland, there are many things that need to be done from within their country. If the individual owns any property it can be at risk. Money in the bank there is at risk. Even from Japan its a nightmare. Business… Read more »
Changes to the J-1 visas just announced today: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/j-1-students-must-now-find-jobs-before-travelling-to-us-1.2427035
I’m focused on immigrants with a relationship to a U.S. citizen, particularly as a spouse or minor child. The system is very much improved since we went through it. My wife waited, forms filed the whole time, over 18 months to be legally admitted (being my military dependent, and at the end when I was notified for a fifth deployment), and an additional eight months until legal residency. We also had rejected petitions with my military status documented within the applications.
Experiences differ, but generally there are enough horror stories that you can hear. Each time you call USCIS you can get a different answer. They also lie to you if they think they can get another petition fee.