Mugshot for Gasim Manafov from NC (assume this is our man)
We don’t know how many of the seventy fraudulent asylum claims were actually approved, but yesterday the ring leader, Gasim Manafov,was sentenced to a measly 18 months in prison for his role in helping them prepare their lies for immigration rulings. Two co-conspirators got one and three months respectively. No mention of the deportation for the criminals after release from prison.
And, I wonder who were the immigration lawyers Manafov must have worked with!
Just a reminder: once someone is granted asylum they become “refugees” with extensive welfare benefits available to them. They also can avail themselves of the ‘services’ of the refugee resettlement contractors.
BALTIMORE, Md.- An Ocean City Man was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in prison followed by a year of supervised release for conspiring to commit immigration fraud, federal prosecutors announced.
According to his plea agreement, 36-year-old Gasim Manafov, both of Ocean City, and Charlotte, N.C.. worked with others in assisting about 70 people in fraudulently applying for asylum benefits from 2007 to 2012.The plea agreement stated Manafov gave fake stories, complete with fake foreign documents, to describe how the person’s family was hurt or killed due to their political or ethnic background. Court documents show Manafov prepared the applicants for interviews and then attended the interviews.
The plea agreement also stated Manafov referred applicants to a co-conspirator knowing that they would engage in a fraudulent marriage for immigration purposes.Court documents also said Manafov suggested a woman apply for immigration benefits to avoid further trouble and coached her on how to lie when asked about it. The agreement said Manafov received $210,000 from those who fraudulently applied for asylum benefits.
Two other conspirators previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy and were sentenced to one and three months in prison, respectively.
Every time I see a story like this one I want to know where the criminal is from and how he came to be legally in America. It is a very rare story that ever mentions that (this one does not).
Checking around for the name Manafov, look at this very cool graphic I found! It is only the web popularity of the name, but check it out here. There is also a similar graphic for the name Gasim and it is a first name in several Muslim countries.
Asylum fraud is turning out to be one of the hottest immigration topics going these days. See some of our recent posts on the crooks and cheats by clicking here.
Can you believe that headline at the New York Times of all places! Earlier this morning, we reportedon the Wall Street Journalstory about questionable asylum-seekers (Syrians), and now this! Are we reaching a tipping point—when even the NEW YORK TIMES writes about asylum fraud? Hat tip: ‘pungentpeppers.’
Just make it up!
Emphasis below is mine:
A Chinese woman walked into a law office in New York’s Chinatown and asked to see her lawyer. She had applied for asylum, claiming that she had been forced to get an abortion in China to comply with the country’s family-planning laws, and she was anxious about her coming interview with immigration officials.
She had good reason to be worried: Her claim, invented by her lawyer’s associates, was false.
But the lawyer, John Wang, told her to relax. The process, he said, was straightforward, and as long as she memorized a few details, everything would be fine. “You are making yourself nervous,” he said in Mandarin. “All you would be asked is the same few rubbish questions.”
“Just make it up,” the lawyer added.
The conversation, in December 2010, was secretly recorded by federal officials conducting a wide investigation of immigration fraud in New York’s Chinese population. The inquiry has led to the prosecution of at least 30 people — lawyers (including Mr. Wang), paralegals, interpreters and even an employee of a church, who is on trial, accused of coaching asylum applicants in basic tenets of Christianity to prop up their claims of religious persecution. [Do-gooder-itis!—ed] All were charged with helping hundreds of Chinese immigrants apply for asylum using false tales of persecution.
The transcript of the conversation in Mr. Wang’s office, which was disclosed in a recent court filing, offered a rare look at the hidden side of the Chinese asylum industry in New York.
Professor Peter Kwong: To asylum-seekers, “it’s not an issue of right or wrong. It’s an issue about whether they can get it and their means to get it.”
To asylum-seekers it’s not an issue of right or wrong:
Though the prevalence of fraud is unknown, federal officials appear to regard the applicant pool in New York with considerable suspicion. In fiscal year 2013, asylum officers around the country granted 40 percent of all Chinese asylum requests, according to government data. In New York City, asylum officers approved only 15 percent.
Peter Kwong, a professor at the City University of New York and an expert on the Chinese population in New York, said it was an open secret in the Chinese community that most asylum applications were at least partly false, from fabricated narratives of persecution to counterfeit supporting documents and invented witness testimony.
To asylum-seekers, he said, “it’s not an issue of right or wrong. It’s an issue about whether they can get it and their means to get it.”
In my post on Syrians coming across the Mexican border, I mentioned an AP story that blames the backlog of cases in the immigration courts on the government shutdown (blame the Republicans), but here the NYT report says that the sheer volume of fraudulent cases is to blame.
The volume of petitions has clogged the federal bureaucratic machinery, overwhelming asylum officers and judges. The deputy director of the New York asylum office blamed fraud, in part, for the deluge, and said she had tripled her team of asylum officers to dig out of a two-year backlog of cases.
The schemes “wreaked havoc on the asylum system as a whole,”the official, Ashley B. Caudill-Mirillo, wrote in a letter to a federal judge in November.
Asylum fraud cuts across all immigrant groups (I still can’t believe this is the NYT reporting this!).
False asylum petitions are among the most common forms of immigration fraud, in part because they are difficult to detect, experts said. Since many claims are based on events that took place amid armed conflict or political turmoil, the narratives and supporting documents can be hard for the American authorities to verify.
And while the Chinese asylum pool has drawn increasing scrutiny in recent years, asylum fraud cuts across all immigrant groups, officials say, cropping up among populations from societies in turmoil such as Guineans seeking refuge from political upheaval, Afghans fleeing war, Russians looking for sanctuary from homophobia and Mexicans running from drug violence.
There is much more, so much more that I didn’t know where to stop excerpting! Read it all.
Chinese make up the largest percentage of asylum seekers granted permission to stay in the US
Go to Table 6, page 6 of the Department of Homeland Securities 2012 Annual Flow Report. Here are the stats for Chinese given refugee status (after arriving in the US on their own either illegally or as visa overstays).
2010: 6,693 Chinese granted asylum (31% of the total)
2011: 8,585 (34%)
2012: 10,151 (34%)
Remember! Once granted asylum, the asylee is then able to access all of the welfare programs open to refugees who were brought in by the US State Department. Fact sheet here.
Asylum fraud is becoming the immigration crisis of the day and I believe historians will look back at this period as the tipping point—-America governed by soft leaders who allowed our great nation to be dragged into the third world through a complete breakdown of our borders. Don’t let it happen. Please speak up and inform your friends and neighbors about what is happening, and tell those jokes in Washington to grow a pair!
Immigration attorney: “In the next six months to a year, you will see even more Syrians crossing into the United States from Mexico.” Photo: Sandy Huffaker for The Wall Street Journal
Here is the latest asylum (fraud!) news from reporter Miriam Jordan at the Wall Street Journal (emphasis is mine):
In 2012, after being imprisoned and beaten, a Syrian dissident named Mohammad fled to neighboring Lebanon, where he applied for and was denied a U.S. tourist visa. Intent on rebuilding his life with family in California, he flew to Mexico City and then Tijuana. There, he crossed the U.S. border illegally and handed himself over to a customs official, seeking asylum.
Last month, the U.S. granted him that status. In a year, he will be eligible to apply for permanent U.S. residency.
With the three-year-old Syrian conflict raging on, and U.S. embassies in the Middle East increasingly denying tourist visas, more Syrians are arriving in Mexico on tourist visas and using the country as a gateway to possible U.S. asylum.A Mexican embassy spokesman “had no comment on this matter.”
Some say the phenomenon underscores the need for a more coordinated international response to the Syrian crisis, while others worry it may offer too easy a path to U.S. residence for potential terrorists, given al Qaeda’s rising presence in Syria.
The Department of Homeland Security in fiscal 2013 recorded 118 Syrian “credible-fear” referrals such as Mohammad’s, up from five in fiscal 2010. In these cases, migrants declare fear of harm if returned to their home country and may stay in the U.S. while pursuing asylum.
By the way, I came across this articlelast night blaming the government shut-down on the backlog of immigration court cases and not on the huge spike in asylum claims as illegal aliens increasingly come across our borders and ask for asylum.
Jordan continued:
At the beginning of the war, it was easier for Syrians to secure U.S. visas. [That explains this Muslim with the eight kids—ed]. Those who entered the U.S. in recent years with visas to study, work or tour also have been increasingly claiming asylum. In fiscal 2013, such applications numbered 1,335, up from 36 in 2010.But as the conflict has flared, the U.S. has denied a higher proportion of Syrian visa requests: 46% in fiscal 2013 compared with 28% three years earlier. Many don’t qualify because they can’t prove they will return home after visiting the U.S. Thus, hundreds of Syrians, including women and children, have begun to show up at the U.S.-Mexico border prepared to seek asylum.
As we previously reported, only a tiny fraction of asylum seekers are detained, the vast majority are released into your towns and cities.
Lawmakers, though, specifically cited a newly uncovered Immigration and Customs Enforcement document that showed thousands of asylum seekers were released while awaiting a decision.
The document, obtained and reviewed by FoxNews.com, showed that in fiscal 2012, just 2,508 of the more than 24,000 asylum seekers were kept in custody.
When we first started writing RRW in 2007, it was all about the refugee resettlement side of the Refugee Act of 1980, but gradually over the years the open borders agitators have been working overtime to build up the asylum side of the law. I noted the change here in January 2011 (three years ago!!!) when I looked back at the 30th anniversary “celebration” of the Refugee Act I had attended the previous year (where there was much giddy enthusiasm for the asylum process). How did poor downtrodden Somali teens get halfway around the world and arrive at our Mexican border seeking asylum—who helps them, where did they get the money, I asked. Who now is helping the Syrians?
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ migration office, which you (US taxpayers) are presently funding for the majority of its budget, has released a report predicting 60,000 illegal alien ‘kids’ will cross US borders this year. Some will be released to relatives and others will come under the Bishops’ care.
They say the ‘kids’ are escaping lawlessness at home and they deny that push factors include a pending ‘amnesty’ or Obama’s welcoming Dreamer policies. So because there is lawlessness around the world we are expected to welcome the kids!
This is a long article, but it is well-worth reading the entire thing for an insight into this latest phenomenon surely aided and abetted (if not entirely hatched) by the open borders lobby.
Kevin Appleby, lobbyist for the USCCB and author of the report: kids are not being drawn by Obama’s lenient immigration policies or the promise of amnesty. (Right!)
60,000 Unaccompanied Minors Could Arrive in U.S. in 2014, Warns Bishops’ Report
…last November, staff from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Department of Migration and Refugee Services, the largest refugee resettlement agency in the world, organized a mission to Mexico and Central America to examine the reasons for increased number of young migrants crossing the border.
The resulting report, issued in January by the USCCB delegation led by Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, warned that an estimated 60,000 undocumented minors — referred to in U.S. law as “Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) — could arrive in this country before the close of 2014.
“The delegation found that a series of interrelated factors have contributed to this dramatic increase in migration and that a ‘perfect storm’ of a number of these root causes has coalesced to create this phenomenon,” according to the report. [LOL! they later say that none of the perfect storm has to do with a pending amnesty or Obama’s policies!—ed]
Report: It is all about a breakdown in the rule of law where they live. So, I guess that means it’s o.k. to break our laws too?
Poverty, weak educational opportunities and a bleak future with no job prospects were part of the problem. The report also noted that many youngsters hoped to be reunited with family members, especially parents who may already be working in this country.
However, the most urgent reasons for the “fear and hopelessness” that spurred teenagers to embark on a harrowing journey to the United States were “generalized violence at the state and local levels and a corresponding breakdown of the rule of law.”
Numbers dramatically increasing:
The majority of unaccompanied minors are taken into custody by the U.S. border patrol, placed in a shelter and then released to relatives, with the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services providing most of the initial services.
Last year, an estimated 20,000 minors passed through the “shelter release” program run by the HHS Office of Refugee Services, almost double the number of 2012. In the first quarter for this fiscal year, 9,881 minors had already been placed in shelters, with daily costs averaging about $400 per person, according to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal. [Taxpayer dollars pay the Bishops to take care of those not released, but articles like this one never make that clear—ed]
The USCCB and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (not mentioned here) are the two major federal contractors paid by the Office of Refugee Resettlement to take care of the ‘kids.’ We previously learned that when the kids reach the age of 18 they are free in America!
At the national level, the USCCB department of Migration and Refugee Services lobbies to improve options and services for undocumented minors, and oversees a country-wide network of mostly Church-affiliated agencies that administer foster care programs.
The USCCB also provides the kids with lawyers, according to the article.
A nod to the critics:
Critics of the federal shelter release program argue that by facilitating family reunification and providing services like free education, the shelter release program is encouraging young migrants to make a hazardous journey and to violate U.S. laws.
There would be no USCCB Office of Migration and Refugee Services without your money.
Go to page 11 of the USCCB 2012 annual report, here.
Note that out of a total revenue stream of $70.9 million, government grants and contracts were an astounding $65.9 million. They also garnered another $3.6 million from refugee travel loans (that is your money too!). We loan money for refugees to get to America and then the USCCB, acting as a collection agency, collects the money from the refugee and returns some portion of it to the taxpayer, but keeps a cut for its labors.
So, if my math is correct, this means that 98% of the USCCB’s immigration work is funded by YOU! And, that would mean that 98% of lobbyist Appleby’s salary is paid by you (remember they are actively supporting amnesty legislation). We have heard, but have never seen published officially anywhere, that the US State Department covers the entire cost of their DC office as well!
See our complete archive on ‘unaccompanied minors’ here.
“Hundreds?” Well, how could that be I wondered, since we are constantly reminded that the unwelcoming US has only admitted a hundred or so Syrian refugees. It turns out that “hundreds” of those being granted ‘temporary protected status‘ are choosing to go to established Syrian communities, like those in North Jersey, to be with their people.
I continually find it amusing that no one ever questions the desire of ‘immigrants’ to congregate with their ethnic and religious groups in certain sections of cities or states, yet if any people of European background (you or me) would say I want to live with my kind of people we would be excoriated by the diversity-is-beautiful crowd as racist, rednecked boobs! But, I digress.
Mahmoud Alzouabi, one of the stars of this story, traveled to Jordan with his wife and 8 kids and got a visa to the US. How did he pull that off when several hundred thousand others couldn’t? CARMINE GALASSO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Back to North Jersey and the Syrians. Emphasis below is mine. From North Jersey.com:
Syrians fleeing war and devastation in their homeland have settled in North Jersey by the hundreds since turmoil broke out three years ago. While family members, houses of worship and a social services agency offer support, many struggle to find work, afford housing and deal with grief amid harrowing experiences in war.
Then we hear about the first star of the story (there are always the sad tales in these articles designed to pull the heartstrings of your unwelcoming racist heart!):
Mahmoud Alzouabi, a 42-year-old Syrian refugee now living in Paterson, fled to a refugee camp in Jordan before getting a U.S. visa. Alzouabi saw a close friend shot to death at a demonstration. [So how did this man with his family, of all the “refugees” arriving in Jordan get a visa to America?—ed]
They want to be with Syrians:
Drawn to North Jersey by long-established Syrian-American communities, many arrive with little more than the clothing they are wearing and with bitter memories of the life-threatening conditions that drove them from their homes.
[…..]
The Syrians who have come to North Jersey are largely unrecognized as they blend into Arab-American neighborhoodsin a diverse state that is home to more than 9,000 Syrian-Americans, according to the Census Bureau.
Thousands being approved to stay in US under ‘Temporary Protected Status’ but as we have reported here at RRW over the years—no one ever goes home! Just ask the over 100,000 Salvadorans here “temporarily!” It is a joke. However, unless they can figure out some fraudulent way to do it, those on TPS are not allowed to dip into welfare (maybe in Maine!) while refugee status confers on those lucky people a whole array of social services.
The United States offers financial aid and transitional help to Syrians who are accepted into its refugee resettlement program, but only 108 Syrians have been officially designated as refugees. Many others are stymied by stringent U.S. security concerns over people arriving with no identification papers. Others face a high legal barrier in the requirement that they prove they are victims of persecution and not merely people displaced by war.
Many of the Syrian refugees have arrived with visitor’s visas and extended their stays, legally, through what is known as temporary protective status, which allows them to get Social Security numbers and authorizes them to find employment.
No work! (Someone please tell Groverthat there are LEGAL Syrians over here looking for work!):
With temporary protected status, he has work authorization and a Social Security number, but he cannot find work. He [another star of the story—ed] applied for health care coverage but did not understand the responses he got. His wife is eight months pregnant.
“Everything is difficult here. Everything is complicated. There’s no help,” said Askar, who has applied for refugee status, fearing religious persecution back home.
They want refugee status so they can get taxpayer-support!
Syrians who are granted asylum are eligible for help from programs funded by the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, including cash and medical assistance, job preparation and placement and English-language training. But only 108 Syrians have been granted official refugee status by the U.S.
TPS numbers:
Most have come to this country as visitors and stayed. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has accepted 5,261 applications for temporary protected status from Syrians already in the U.S., approving 2,038 of those and denying 59; the rest are pending. Of those, 335 applications came from Syrians in New Jersey; 150 were approved, three denied and the rest are pending.
Big rush of Syrians expected in US in 2015 and 2016. Will Mr. Open Borders himself, Chris Christie, be welcoming them on the tarmac at Newark’s Liberty International airport?
With no end in sight to the war, more Syrians can be expected to arrive in North Jersey. The U.S. government expects to receive thousands of referrals for resettlement from the United Nations’ refugee agency in 2014, with arrivals expected in 2015 and 2016, according to the State Department. It is not known how many will be accepted.
Some elected officials and human rights groups have called for the U.S. to do more and take in 15,000 Syrians refugees. According to news reports, the Obama administration expects to take in only as many as 2,000.
For years we watched the media drumbeat to bring in the Iraqis (and they are coming by the tens of thousands now) and henceforth we will see one story after another, like this one, as the media and the open borders movement builds their Syrian “refugee” PR campaign. And, just watch, even if their ‘civil war’ ends before 2015, the flood gates to Syrian refugees will be open and they will keep coming (just as the Iraqis are still coming to this day)!
Addendum: Check out the story we posted recently about one Syrian family getting into the US via Cuba, here. They too are in North Jersey.
