美国政府错误地批准了八百多名本该被驱逐出境的移民的公民申请。
星期一公布的对美国国土安全局进行的一个内部审计发现，有858名移民是来自那些对美国国家安全构成威胁，或是移民造假比率很高的国家。报告没有列出这些国家的名字。
美国国土安全局检察长约翰·罗斯说，这些移民使用不同的名字或出生日期申请公民身份。他说，这些错误的发生，是因为政府数据库里没有找到申请人的指纹。
罗斯说，“这个情况给那些指望通过作假手段获得公民权利和优待的人创造了机会。”
这次误得公民身份的人当中，至少有三个人利用公民身份在安全敏感度较高的行业找到了工作，比如商业机场和海事机构。国土安全局表示，这三个人的身份证明已被吊销。还有一人成为了执法官员。调查人员去年确认还有953个案子也令人怀疑。
国土安全局表示，这个审计报告提出了移民官员长期面临的一个困难，那就是，旧的纸质档案里面的指纹无法通过电子搜寻找到。
审计报告建议，对纸质指纹进行数码化处理，然后添加到政府的数据库里。报告还建议政府设立一个系统，对数百名错误获得公民身份的人进行评估。
目前被有关方面提出起诉的只有两起案子。
按规定，移民必须提供他们在过去与移民局打交道时使用过的别名，以及他们的移民历史。但是移民有时会略去这些信息。
共和党总统候选人川普一直把移民审批工作列为他竞选中的核心问题。他提议在审批程序得到加强以前，对来自“深受恐怖主义影响”的国家的移民申请实行临时冻结。
The U.S. government has mistakenly granted citizenship to more than 800 immigrants that it was supposed to have deported.
An internal Homeland Security Department audit released Monday found the 858 immigrants came from countries that pose a national security risk to the United States or countries with high rates of immigration fraud. The report did not identify the countries.
The Homeland Security Department's Inspector General John Roth said the immigrants used different names or birth dates to apply for citizenship. He said the mistakes happened because the applicants' fingerprints were missing from government databases.
"This situation created opportunities for individuals to gain the rights and privileges of U.S. citizenship through fraud," Roth said.
At least three of those who were mistakenly granted citizenship were able to use their citizenship to get jobs in security-sensitive fields, including work at commercial airports and maritime facilities. The Department of Homeland Security say all three have had their security credentials revoked. A fourth person has become a law enforcement officer. Investigators last year identified another 953 cases that also appear suspicious.
The Department of Homeland Security says the report highlights what has long been a challenge for immigration officials -- the fact that old paper-based records containing fingerprints cannot be searched electronically.
The audit recommends that paper fingerprints be digitized and added to the government's database. It also recommends that officials create a system to evaluate the hundreds of people who were mistakenly approved for citizenship.
Charges have been brought in just two of the cases.
Immigrants are required to disclose any previous aliases they have used with immigration officials as well as their immigration history, but they sometimes omit that information.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has made the vetting of immigrants a central part of his platform. He has called for a temporary ban on immigration from countries "compromised by terrorism" until a stronger vetting process can be put in place.
