"[USCIS] Whistle-blower let go"

An immigrant application screener who spoke out earlier this year about his agency's security failures has lost his job, despite a recent decision to extend the contracts of hundreds of other employees like him.

Sultan Farakhan, an immigrant benefits application adjudicator, was terminated from employment Friday at the National Benefits Center in Lee's Summit, Mo., one of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' largest immigration application processing centers...

Farakhan -- who according to USCIS evaluations had a nearly flawless performance record during his four years as a "term," or temporary, employee -- was one of hundreds of agency employees who received a $500 bonus Sept. 19 for helping reduce the agency's application backlog.

...[Chris Bentley, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security's Citizenship and Immigration Services] would neither confirm nor deny that Farakhan was the only term employee terminated at the Missouri center. He also would not say if Farakhan was the subject of any disciplinary action...

Immigration · Tue, 10/03/2006 - 09:04 · · Importance: 1