Adjusting to Terrorism.docx Running head: ADJUSTING TO TERRORISM

Adjusting to Terrorism.docx  Running head: ADJUSTING TO TERRORISM                                                                             1  CJA/454  Adjusting to Terrorism CJA/454  Adjusting to Terrorism  My first federal job was at United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) as an Immigration Officer. I was trained adjudicate immigration and citizenship benefits; I was a gatekeeper to our immigration system. During that time, I interviewed some of the baddest dudes  “ murderers, terrorists, rapists, you name it. These guys posed as every day, ordinary people; they presented fake documents, lied about their backgrounds and even went as far as marrying American citizens to obtain benefits. I was 15 years old when 9/11 happened; it was one of the most horrifying things I had seen in my life, up until that point. At that time, the Department of Homeland Security did not exist, and those terrorists were allowed in our country due to a faulty background check process. Currently, USCIS only conducts two out of four potential background checks for immigration benefit applicants. I believe that this process could pose a risk to national security or public safety if all four background checks are not completed.  Problem. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) standards for verifying applicant identity are vulnerable to fraud, which lessens the reliability of security checks based on those identities. USCIS inability to adjudicate applications quickly or with adequate securi