The head of immigration services in the United States said he feared some immigration adjudicators might be prejudiced against applicants who have undergone extra checks for ties to terrorism.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Andrew Mayorkas, speaking at a public forum at The New School in Manhattan on October 13, 2010, said it may be hard for adjudicators to stop thinking of an applicant as a potential terrorist.

All applicants for permanent residency and other immigration benefits undergo name checks in Federal Bureau of Investigation and other databases. If there's a match showing a criminal record or links to groups deemed terrorist by the United States, the applicant may be asked to produce evidence or may called in for questioning.

"The question is," said Mayorkas, "when the national security concern is addressed and is in the rearview mirror and we are adjudicating the [immigration] benefit independent of that concern, are we able to shift our mindset? That may be vulnerability and it is something that perhaps we need to work on in training."

Mayorkas was responding to a question from New School President Bob Kerrey, the forum's moderator, about the impact of 9/11 on the immigration agency's decisions. All of the 19 alleged 9/11 hijackers were foreigners.

"I am thinking out loud," said Mayorkas.

Mayorkas' remarks come at a time when Arab Americans and Muslims across the United States complain of discrimination in the immigration process.

Lawsuits have cropped up nationwide, including one filed June 2010 by the American Civil Liberties Union in Southern California, alleging that Muslims' immigration cases have been stalled or unfairly denied.

Mayorkas addressed the impact of 9/11 on his agency more than once in the 90-minute forum. Immigration adjudicators, he said, are "deeply concerned about the question, 'what if I allow somebody in who does us harm?' The work that we do is very difficult."