Category: Immigration fraud

Vermont refugees mum on alleged Muslim war criminal among them (updated)

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Edin Sakoc, 54, is arrested for charges he lied about war crimes. (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)

University Dean:  Very common for war criminals to seek refugee status….hmmm!

From WCAX.com:

BURLINGTON, Vt. –

Federal prosecutors say In July 1992, during the Bosnian war, Edin Sakoc kidnapped and raped a Bosnian Serb and aided in the murder of her mother and aunt before burning down the family’s home. 21 years later, the 54-year-old Bosnian Muslim and naturalized Vermonter faces trial in Burlington.

Waell Murray is a Palestinian American who immigrated in 1984. He runs Global Market in Burlington and says resettled Bosnians account for about 40 percent of his business. But he says no one’s talking about the Burlington refugee recently accused of war crimes. “People like to talk when they come in here and they like to talk about issues, world issues and politics and stuff, but this particular issue nobody has discussed with me yet,” he said.

Howard Ball, a former Dean of Arts and Sciences at the University of Vermont, says its very common for war criminals to seek refugee status. He says military strategy during the Bosnian war dictated rape and murder as part of a genocidal campaign. U.S. Officials are charging Sakoc with lying about his background to immigration officials, with a maximum penalty of ten years behind bars. But Ball says prosecutors are more likely to seek deportation than prison time.

“He could face trial if he goes back, whether he will be indicted by a Bosnian court, we don’t know,” he said.

More than 1,700 Bosnian refugees came to Vermont between 1992 and 2005. But none of the dozens we contacted are willing to speak on-camera.

In this wrap-up paragraph, I don’t know what the five year reference is to, but you can bet your bottom dollar he and his family are being at least partially supported to this day by social services provided through the generosity of the US and Vermont taxpayer.

The Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program* declined our multiple requests for an interview, citing concerns with appearing to speak for a community with diverse and differing opinions. [LOL! They don’t want to speak ill of a Muslim I bet–ed].  Many of those they’ve helped no longer qualify for special services, as those rights evaporate once a refugee spends five years in the states.

Photo:  The photo is from a report on this case, here, at Fox News 44. Note that Sakoc has been in the US since 2001 but needed a translator to understand the court proceedings.   I wonder how much this guy cost us over the last 12 years!  And, how much his legal proceedings will cost us going forward!  Just a reminder, revisit the latest on the conviction of a war criminal here in New Hampshire just a few weeks ago after years (and millions of dollars spent) in the court system.

*VRRP!  It couldn’t happen to a more deserving state (the Land of Leahy)!   Diversity is beautiful, right!

***Update August 4th***

Reader ‘Mikefromlongisland’ alerted us to this more detailed account of the charges against Sakoc.  From AP at the Montana Standard:

Sakoc is a Bosnian Muslim. He moved to Vermont in 2001, became a legal resident of the United States in 2004 and was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in June 2007. The Burlington Free Press reported Sakoc has a wife and a 6-year-old daughter.

The people Sakoc is accused of victimizing were Orthodox Christian Bosnian Serbs.

The Bosnian Serb family had moved from a home in the southern Bosnian municipality of Capljina to the home of a Bosnian Croat family nearby, the indictment said. Most Bosnian Serbs in the village had fled to safer areas, but a woman remained to care for two people who were too old to travel far, it said.

On or around July 9, 1992, Sakoc and an unnamed co-conspirator went to the home where the victims were staying, took the woman from the home, raped her and took her to the Dretelj prison camp, the indictment said.

Later that night or early the next day, Sakoc and the co-conspirator returned to the home, the indictment said. With help from Sakoc, the co-conspirator fatally shot the two elderly people, burned the home down and separately burned the victims’ bodies, it said.

The two-count indictment did not include charges directly tied to those events but charged that Sakoc had lied to immigration authorities three times when asked if he had participated in crimes of persecution and moral turpitude: when he applied for refugee status in the U.S. in 2001, when he applied for permanent legal residency in 2004 and when he applied for citizenship in 2007.

Somali government to Holland and Sweden: don’t send those troublemakers back here

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Photo from Horseed Media

According to the Somaliland Sun, the new government of Somalia recently turned back an airplane carrying Somali youths being deported from the Netherlands and Sweden (were some of them the Somalis who terrorized Sweden back in May?).

I looked around a bit for another source on this news and didn’t find it.  In February the Dutch Government was thwarted in an attempt to send back a few criminal types, so I’m not sure there was a recent plane carrying Somali deportees from two countries (it strikes me as strange that the two countries coordinated such a flight).

Nevertheless, this is being reported at Somali websites (emphasis is mine):

Somalilandsun – An airplane carrying Somalis deported from Holland and Sweden has recently been turned back from Mogadishu airport

The Somali nationality and Immigration directorate have recently returned back an airplane carrying Somali youth deportees from Holland and Sweden , according to local Somali websites .

General Abdillahi Gaafo who is the director of Immigration said that ” it is illegal to send youth back to the country without any notification to the Somali government and without indicating the reasons behind their deportation” . Any forced return of Somalis by these countries should be prior to talks between these countries and Somalia and with prior agreement by the Somali government on the return of deportees to the country, the general concluded .

Holland has earlier been condemned for sending Somalis back to the war-torn country and the EU high courts have prevented many Somalis from being forcefully deported to Somalia by the Dutch government .

So, if it’s true, then the Dutch and Swedish governments need to try notifying first and see what happens.

Readers, think about this.  All over the world, Africans are leaving Africa and Middle Easterners are trying to get out of their hellholes.  How is this ever going to stop in the decades to come?  Sad to say, but in my view, the invasion of the West is only going to get worse.

Big immigrant-run food stamp fraud bust in Cleveland area

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Welcome to Cleveland!   While ‘Welcoming America’ is busy trying to persuade Cleveland that diversity is beautiful and that they need more of it, some of their diversity has figured out how to scam the US taxpayer out of $2 million!

First have a look at the news from La Prensa about how bringing more diversity to Cleveland will improve the economy:

Embracing a more proactive immigrant friendly vision for Cleveland, Global Cleveland partnered with MetroHealth Medical Center and Welcoming America to lay groundwork to transform the city. Nearly 250 guests attended the movie and post discussion at MetroHealth Medical Center on July 16, 2013.

And here we have David Lubell again out hocking that Shelbyville propaganda film!  Lubell’s organization was recently hired by the Office of Refugee Resettlement to sell reluctant cities on the idea of “welcoming” refugees.  La Prensa continues:

‘Welcoming America’ trying to sell Cleveland on increasing immigrant diversity to save itself from the same fate as Detroit!

“We often dismiss people with fear,” said David Lubell, executive director of Welcoming America, which is a critical mistake in the effort to transform the mindset of a community. Welcoming America is a national nonprofit organization working to improve immigrant integration by direct engagement through individual and group efforts to create local initiatives that facilitate cultural understanding and ease transitions.

Lubell said all communities are different; some have less distance to do and working with Global Cleveland and other partners Welcoming America will determine where the city stands to best address its needs. Lubell said there is intense competition brewing amongst cities to become the most immigrant friendly city in the United States and attract global talent.

Global talent!  That is a good way to describe the major (many are Muslim or Middle Eastern) network of bright convenience store food stamp scammers!   Cleveland is about to lose three of its most talented Arabs.

EBT Nation! LOL!  We use this graphic when I can’t find a photo of the perps!

From ABC 5 in Cleveland:

BROOK PARK, Ohio – Three Brook Park men have been indicted for defrauding the food stamp program out of $2 million at four Cleveland stores.

The United States Attorney’s Office of Northern Ohio said brothers Saed and Maher Wahdan, along with the help of Nidal Jaber, accepted food stamps for ineligible items like beer and cigarettes.

All three men have been indicted on counts of conspiracy to commit food stamp fraud, food stamp fraud and unlawful redemption of food stamps.

U.S. Attorney for Northern Ohio Steven Dettelbach said that attempts will be made to recover stolen money.

“The food stamp program has provided nutritious food to thousands of hungry families over the years,” he said. “We will continue to work to recover money stolen from the program and eradicate waste, fraud and abuse of government programs.”

Between January 2008 and March 2012, the three men attempted to commit more than $2 million in food-stamp fraud through four of their businesses that were held under different names to conceal Saed Wahdan’s prior food stamp convictions, authorities said. Those stores were One Stop Beverage, 5105 Franklin Blvd.; Bridge Deli and Beverage, 4700 Bridge Ave.; Franklin Beverage and Deli, 4719 Franklin Blvd., and Scott Food Mart, 951 Linn Drive.

The three men used their businesses to exchange customer food stamps for cash and other unauthorized items. They also bought food stamp cards from customers to use at other grocery locations to get inventory for their stores and for their personal use, according to the indictment.

The indictment seeks to forfeit the businesses run by the Wahdans.

Food stamp fraud is a side interest of mine at RRW.  We have an extensive archive on cases like this one (click here).

As each year passes and our archive grows I still hold out hope that some real investigative reporter will dig into this story—how do all these immigrants acquire these Mom & Pop grocery stores and then go into the food stamp fraud racket?   And, every time I hear the likes of Lubell say immigrants are entrepreneurs and open shops, I can’t help but think of these food stamp scammers.

Analyst: Europe unprepared for potential large scale exodus from Egypt

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Writing at World Review, economic analyst Bernard Siman asks whether Europe could handle a new wave of “refugees” escaping Egypt this time.

Greece and Cyprus are the closest European countries to Egypt in Africa.

There has been little, if any, public discussion of possible scenarios, let alone serious crisis planning, whether politically, economically, administratively or militarily.

This is potentially a huge scale multi-dimensional problem.

Egypt’s 82.5 million population is separated from the Schengen area’s most eastern point of entry at Cyprus by 500 kilometres of Mediterranean Sea.

Any mass population movement fleeing Egypt’s violence – and in extremis civil war – will potentially be a game-changer at a time of serious and combined financial and economic crisis across Europe.

Austerity, deep financial cuts, widespread and vocal populist discontent about multiculturalism and immigration are affecting the eurozone and Cyprus and Greece in particular – the two Schengen members closest to the north Egyptian coast.

It is hard to say whether any naval crisis-planning exists to deal with such a sudden mass influx of Egyptian boat-people in the eastern Mediterranean.

Civil War in Egypt?

Egypt is descending into prolonged instability at best and civil war at worst. Both are likely to lead to increased migration through normal individual arrangements or mass exits.

The impact will not just be Europe’s to suffer….

See all of our posts on Malta (and Italy) going back almost 6 years and the problems they face with migrants arriving from Libya to get an idea of what Cyprus and Greece might face.  The US State Department has already set a dangerous precedent by transforming Malta’s illegal alien Africans into refugees being resettled now in your cities.  What is to stop them doing the same for (Muslim Brotherhood???) Egyptians arriving on Cyprus?

“Temporary” refugee should get legal residency says 6th Circuit Court of Appeals

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

And, we should strike the word “alien” from the US Code says Senior Judge Damon J. Keith.

Judge Damon J. Keith: the word “alien” is offensive and demeaning

I thought this story might just contain a little nugget of information on ‘Temporary Protected Status‘—another backdoor amnesty program for aliens who got into the US illegally and then because of a storm (decades ago!) or an earthquake or a civil war, the US declared anyone already here from that country could stay “temporarily,” but there is nothing temporary about this program.  The Salvadorans will tell you about that!

Most recently, the Obama Administration granted “temporary” refugee status to any Syrians already in the US.

To my knowledge, no one group has ever gone home!  And, I’m not sure, but I think those with TPS will all get to stay and become Legal Permanent Residents under S.744 (the Gang’s bill) if it should become law.

Now comes what I thought was a run-of-the-mill press release from an immigration law firm, but with an intriguing twist near the end. (Emphasis is mine).

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders who entered the United States illegally may now be eligible to ad adjust their status to “Lawful Permanent Resident” (LPR), according to a recent groundbreaking decision by a United States Court of Appeals.  The decision serves as a stunning departure from previous Unites States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) policy requiring TPS holders to first leave the United States before applying for LPR status, a process complicated by potential ten year bars from re-entry and additional obstacles facing those immigrants with previously unlawful presence in the country.  Attorney Ryan Korsunsky of Wites & Kapetan believes that the Court’s decision is a step in the right direction.  “USCIS policy on  adjusting TPS status should account for the uniqueness of an individual’s situation, and not treat all immigrants alike based solely on how they entered the country, which in many cases was over a decade ago.”

TPS holders come to the United States from foreign countries experiencing unsafe or extraordinary conditions, including armed conflict and environmental disasters.  Currently USCIS designates immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Syria as eligible to apply for TPS if they meet additional statutory requirements.  During a designated temporary period TPS holders are not removable from the Unites States, can be employed by obtaining an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), and may be granted authority to travel.  Most importantly, as it relates to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), USCIS regulation states a TPS holder “cannot be detained by DHS on the basis of his or her immigration status.”

The case, which came from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, is called Flores, et al. v. USCIS, and involves Saady Suazo, a Honduran national granted TPS in 1999 [temporary?—ed] after entering the United States without inspection (EWI) in 1998 [illegally—ed].  Suazo married a U.S. citizen in 2010, with whom he is raising a minor child, and applied to adjust his immigration status on the basis of his marriage.  Suazo’s application was denied by USCIS in accordance with the policy preventing those who entered the country illegally from adjusting their status to LPR.  The Court of Appeals reversed the decision, giving Suazo the requisite eligibility to apply for an adjustment to LPR status.  The Court found that the TPS statute allowed for Suazo to be considered in lawful nonimmigrant status for the purpose of adjusting his status.  The Court also referred to the U.S.’s current immigration system a “archaic and convoluted” and described the process Suazo would have faced under previous USCIS policy as “a waste of energy, time, government resources, and will have a negative effect on his family-United States citizens.”

The Obama Administration will likely not defend the present law by taking the Court of Appeals decision to the US Supreme Court.

Here is what I found most interesting.  Senior Judge Damon J. Keith declared the word “alien” offensive and said that it should be stricken from the US Code:

Judge Damon J. Keith, the author of the Court’s opinion, also denounced the term “alien” as offensive and demeaning, urging Congress to eliminate it entirely from the United States Code.

By the way, the definition of “alien” is simply someone born in another country who has not acquired citizenship.  So what word would the Judge find to describe such a person?  They are always, always! seeking to change the language.

Who is Judge Damon J. Keith?  Here he is being feted on his 90th birthday last year.  I don’t have the time to search much but he played a role in several decisions including ones involving the Communist Party in the US and I especially found this reference in the wikipedia page for Bernardine Dorhn interesting.

On October 14, 1970, Bernardine Rae Dohrn was added to the Federal Bureau of Investigations list of the “10 Most Wanted” fugitives. She used several aliases, including Bernardine Rae Ohrnstein, H.T. Smith, and Marion Del Gado. The FBI removed Dohrn from its “10 Most Wanted” list in December 1973, after District Judge Damon J. Keith dismissed the case against the Weathermen.

Photo is from The Damon Keith Collection, here.

Our complete archive on Temporary Protected Status may be found by clicking here.

Related?  See James Simpson—GOP immigration plan devised by Communist Party—at World Net Daily.