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Immigration officials are under fire, following a report indicating that several green cards were sent to the wrong people.

A new report by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed that the number of visas going to the wrong addresses has increased since US Customs and Immigration Services (CIS) installed its Electronic Immigration System (ELIS) in 2012.

鈥淲e undertook this audit to answer a relatively simple question: after 11 years and considerable expense, what has been the outcome 鈥� right now 鈥� of USCIS鈥� efforts to automate benefits processing?鈥� writes John Roth, DHS Inspector General, in the report. 鈥淭he answer, unfortunately, is ... little progress had been made.鈥�

The shift to the electronic system was a safeguard, intended to prevent any illegal persons from acquiring immigration benefits, but it may have increased the security risk, Mr. Roth said.

The main problem leading to errors, the report found, is that the system limits employees from making changes 鈥� which means that if a green card applicant requests changes to his or her address, employees won鈥檛 be able to update the changes. Additionally, the system often failed to display correct information, and frequently eliminated relevant information, including apartment numbers.

鈥淲ith ISIS and other terrorist groups active around the world and committed to attacks on our country, our national security depends on our systems for screening visa and immigration applications working effectively,鈥� said Sen. Ron Johnson (R) of Wisconsin, Homeland Security Committee Chairman, in a statement.

Visa programs have come under intense scrutiny following the Paris and San Bernardino terrorist attacks. Several officials questioned the visa program following reports that Tashfeen Malik 鈥� the Pakistani woman who killed 14 people alongside her husband, Syek Farook, in San Bernadino in December 2015 鈥� came to the US on a K-1 fianc茅(e) visa, which she obtained without proof that she had met him in person, Reuters reported.

In February, the DHS聽began implementing changes to the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), in response to the Paris attacks and the subsequent investigation that revealed that most of the attackers were from European countries.

Previously, the program allowed citizens tourists from 38 countries 鈥� mostly from Europe 鈥� into the US without obtaining a visa, to stay for 90 days or less. The tourists needed to submit only background checks to the DHS, but didn鈥檛 need to visit the US consulate to obtain visas, The Associated Press reported.

About 20 million visitors come to the United States each year for business or tourism under the program,聽according to the AP. Citizens from the 38 countries would still be able to travel into the US without visas 鈥� except those who have previously visited Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen.

CIS director Le贸n Rodr铆guez was very critical of the DHS findings.

The report 鈥渄oes not fully recognize the extent of USCIS鈥� efforts to implement new technology and the extraordinary impact that these changes have had on the effectiveness of the system,鈥� and the findings don鈥檛 鈥渞eflect the drastically improved approaches put into place as we rebuilt our Electronic Immigration System,鈥� he said, according to The Washington Post.

To which Roth responded with a letter criticizing Mr. Rodr铆guez's response.

鈥淚 would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to express my disappointment at the tone and substance of your office鈥檚 response to the audit report, as well as audit staff鈥檚 efforts throughout this project,鈥� Roth wrote, according to The Daily Caller. The USCIS has 鈥渃ontinually minimized the shortcomings of the program and resisted independent oversight.鈥�

The system was supposed to cost $536 million. But that figure has now increased to $3.1 billion.