Overview
- More than 55 Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and VA Secretary Doug Collins demanding answers about a nationwide report on noncitizens tied to the VA.
- A late-November memo from VA Chief of Staff Christopher Syrek, ordered by Collins, directs offices to identify all noncitizen employees, contractors, health-professional trainees, and volunteers by Dec. 30 for review.
- The VA says the effort is part of legally required continuous vetting under federal trusted workforce standards and states it will not affect veterans seeking care or the delivery of services.
- VA officials say any adverse findings from the review will be referred to agencies that handle immigration enforcement, a step critics argue could target noncitizen staff and affiliates.
- The VA workforce is about 440,000 with roughly a quarter veterans, and recent cases of noncitizen veterans facing removal have intensified concerns about the directive's impact.