Category: Immigration fraud

Sign up today to find out if more “family” members will join refugees in the US

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Reader background:  In 2008, the US State Department found widespread fraud in the so-called P-3 family reunification program for refugees.   The State Department estimated that as many as 30,000 Africans (mostly Somalis) entered the US illegally in a five year period.  The program was suspended and not fully re-opened.

So now, some “refugees and asylees” are attempting to find other ways of getting “family” into the US.  The I-730 is one such program.  Before listening in on the “stakeholder” teleconference tomorrow, it’s recommended that you read this post in which a reader personally knowledgeable with some of these visa programs gives us a summary.

Here is the announcement from the USCIS (hat tip: Jim).  You must sign up today for the call tomorrow!

Dear Stakeholder [I hate that word, but as one reader recently pointed out, if you pay taxes, you are a stakeholder!–ed]

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) International Operations Division and Public Engagement Division invite any interested individuals to participate in a teleconference on Tuesday, August 7, 2012 from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm (Eastern) to receive an update on the Refugee and Asylee Follow-to-Join (Form I-730) pilot program that was launched overseas by USCIS and the Department of State (DOS) last year.

On March 31, 2011, USCIS and DOS began piloting new Form I-730 processing procedures at five overseas locations: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Guatemala City, Guatemala; New Delhi, India; Port-au-Prince, Haiti; and Yaoundé, Cameroon. The pilot procedures were jointly developed by USCIS and DOS in an effort to improve customer service and to provide greater consistency, efficiency, and security in the processing of these important humanitarian cases.

During this engagement USCIS will provide an update on the pilot and plans for future implementation. In addition, subject matter experts will be available to answer questions from stakeholders.

To Participate in the Session

Please email the Public Engagement Division no later than August 6, 2012 at Public.Engagement@uscis.dhs.gov

Please reference “Follow to Join” in the subject line of your email. Please also include your full name and the organization you represent in the body of the email.

To Join the Session

On the day of the engagement please use the information below to join the session by phone. We recommend calling in 10 minutes prior to the start of the teleconference.
Call-in Number Inside the US: 1-800-779-9654
Call-in Number Outside the US: 001-212-547-0238
Passcode: 730

Kind Regards,

Public Engagement Division
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Update on Uzbek would-be assassin

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Here is a story I would have missed if I hadn’t visited VDARE and Brenda Walker’s good posts.

We’ve written on several previous occasions (here) about a Muslim from Uzbekistan with a student visa (but not attending any school!), living in Alabama and plotting to assassinate Obama.   As Walker points out, had Ulugbek Kodirov been a Tea Partier it would have been news on every network in America, but ho-hum just another Muslim immigrant.

Sentenced to 15 years, his defense says he was lonely and lured by the bad people on the internet, from Fox News:

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. –  An Uzbek man who came to America pursuing an Ivy League medical degree but wound up working seven days a week at a mall kiosk in Alabama was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison Friday for plotting to kill President Barack Obama.

U.S. District Judge Abdul K. Kallon imposed the sentence on Ulugbek Kodirov, 22. He had faced up to 30 years in prison.

Written and oral court pleadings showed Kodirov, whose parents are professionals who worked for the government in his native Uzbekistan, was accepted to study medicine at Columbia University in New York but never enrolled because his English was too poor.

Read the whole story.  Columbia says they never accepted him and if his parents were professionals in Uzbekistan, why did they let him just drift on down to Alabama for work at a mall.

Looks like attorneys are already building his case to seek asylum once he serves his time.

Authorities said Kodirov was in the country illegally because he obtained a student visa but never enrolled in school. He faces deportation after his release; Bell said he could be killed when he returns home for his actions.

Not the only radical Uzbek the US has admitted. 

It is still a mystery how and why the US State Department airlifted hundreds of Uzbeks (supposed refugees) to the US against their will, but apparently for some as-yet-explained foreign policy purpose.  Here is just one post on the subject.

By the way, the refugee resettlement program is often used to help out some other Nation with their illegal aliens or to curry favor with some government that has a problem with some ethnic group.  When I sent testimony for the May 1 State Department meeting I recommended that Congress disallow the use of “refugees” to accomplish some other foreign policy objective (here, #7).

Visas for family “reunification” explained

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

A few days ago I reported on Somalis in Minneapolis who are angry that the US State Department/Homeland Security are making it harder for them to bring their “families” to the US.    I explained that the P-3 program had been suspended in 2008 when it was learned that tens of thousands of Africans (mostly from Somalia) had gotten into the US fraudulently—they lied about their family relationship.  The program is still partially closed.   And, now the I-130 visa process has added some hurdles which has ticked-off the would-be migrants (and their lawyers) even further.

Since these visa application processes are all ‘greek’ to those of us on the outside, I appealed for help in understanding the I-130 visa and the I-730 visa as it relates to “refugees.”    A kind reader with experience has sent us the following explanation (emphasis mine).   This will be filed in our ‘where to find information’ category for your future reference.

I-130’s

This is the name used for a form to apply for the legal immigration of certain relatives of  certain types of US legal residents. It is not a part of the US refugee resettlement program. It’s an application for a permanent visa based on family relationship criteria.

Any  US citizen can petition for parents, spouse , minor children, single adult children over 21, married children , and siblings. (spouses and minor children of beneficiaries are included on the visa)

Depending on the relationship to the petitioner,there are various waiting times based on the number of pending applications.

Parents, spouses and unmarried minor children are eligible for “immediate” visas and it’s just a matter of the actual processing time (although  it’s usually several months to a year).  Older children have a much longer waiting period and for siblings, the wait hovers around 10 years .

Legal permanent residents (green card holders) can only petition for spouses, unmarried minor children. Those are not “immediate” visas, but are subject to another waiting list but is usually 3-4 years),

Visas  are initially adjudicated by the visa center here in the US simply based on documentation presented with the application, and then (provided they are initially approved) , once they become “current” , sent overseas to the nearest embassy/consulate for final decision, based on a face to face interview and documentation.

The US petitioner is also required to file an “affidavit of support” (showing financial ability to support the applicant (s)) which precludes the applicants from accessing any public benefits upon entering the US. (this is a whole other issue, since  actual enforcement of those affidavits varies greatly from state to state and many legal visa recipients do access public benefits).

At one time, in the P-3 program, US relatives who were US citizens were barred from utilizing the P-3 process and required to file I-130’s. Refugee advocates successfully lobbied to have this rule changed, thus US citizens could file P-3 applications.  While no longer required to, they could still also simultaneously file I-130’s  as a back up in case the applicants failed to meet refugee criteria (one does not preclude the other). In my experience, most US relatives chose not to file the I-130s and , instead, rely solely on the P-3 process which, as you know, confers refugee status and eligibility for all available public benefits and puts no onus of financial responsibility on the US anchor relative.

I-730’s

This is where the lines can get a bit blurry.

This is a US visa called “following to join.” There are 2 categories:

Visa 93 (US relative was admitted as a refugee)
Visa 92 (US relative was granted political asylum in the US)

Applicants are limited to spouses and unmarried minor children (not parents, siblings, married or over 21 kids).

Relationships must have existed prior to granting of US petitioner’s status (some tricky parts here!).  Application must be filed within 2 years of granted status.

Visas 92/93 can be filed simultaneously with  P-3 applications.

Those applications are initially approved  by US immigration processing centers (there are only a couple who do these) and sent to the local embassy/consulate for final adjudication. The applicants are under no requirement to provide any proof of refugee claims themselves,  but only proof of relationship to the petitioner.  If the visa is granted, they are admitted to the US under “derivative refugee/asylee” status.  Affidavits of support are not required, and they are eligible for public benefits subject to the petitioner’s income (again,… my experience showed a large amount of  easily-conducted fraud).

California citizen: refugee program a fraud!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Russian:

“Who would not tell a white lie in order to get everything for free”?

Readers, I haven’t forgotten that I plan to continue to post testimony from that May 1 State Department meeting which was ostensibly to give you an opportunity to voice your opinion on how many refugees the US will take in FY 2013 and from where.  But, the Refugee program head honcho, Lawrence Bartlett, said at the meeting that they wouldn’t make the testimony available on-line (those in attendance received the testimony in hard copy).   All of the testimony I’ve posted so far is here in our special category for the meeting.

This is what one California citizen had to say (emphasis mine):

I have been in the photography business since 1973 in a town called Rancho Cordova, California. It is a suburb of Sacramento. We do not need any more refugees in our community. We have been the destination point for over 150 thousand alleged religiously persecuted refugees from the former Soviet Union. It is nothing more than a scam against taxpayer. It is under the Lautenberg act of 1989. There is no religious persecution in Russia. And if there was, is it our duty to support them?

The churches are behind it in order to receive free money for putting phony refugees on public assistance. I cannot describe in words the resentment of my customers who work in the banks, grocery stores, and in the medical field who are extremely resentful of this largesse.

The women who work at the banks and grocery stores are witnesses to the scams and the fraud that is committed on a daily basis. As my friend who works at the bank states if I cash one more social security check for someone who has never paid into the system and is drawing more than my parents who worked all of their lives I will scream. The resentment is palpable.

Particularly when the community found out there is no religious persecution in Russia. That it is nothing more than a scam to obtain a middle class life on the backs of someone else.

I have proof it is all fraud and not even my congressman Lungren [Dan Lungren] will discuss it out of fear of being destroyed politically. I have brought the fraud to the attention to ICE. They responded with they know it is fraud. They said they would be sued if they dare try and stop it.

I am a Viet Nam Vet as is my brother via the law in those days. My brother’s neighbors from Cambodia never worked a day while they lived next to my brother. He and his wife worked to support them. How can you justify that. The nice folks from Cambodia received section 8 housing and their kids went to college at my brother’s expense.

If we took that money and spent it on the black community maybe there would not be cities full of Ghettos?

We cannot afford it period. We need to follow the original law. Meaning they cannot be a burden on taxpayers. They are supposed to have sponsors who support them. It is shameful the only reason the churches are interested in resettling is money for themselves.

You forget the domino effect in our community such as crime and gangs in the Russian community. I had a Russian friend who worked for me, by the name of Alex Sukonof tell me “Who would not tell a white lie in order to get everything for free”?

Alex also told me that he thought “It was ok that his in laws claimed religious persecution like the others.” That they only receive about $1300.00 between them, including free health care that we pay for. Apparently as alleged Refugees: they are entitled to SSI for 7 years. If they become citizens within that time, it is now a lifetime entitlement. Even though they have never worked a day in their life here.

The real sad part is that according to Alex they are allowed to take the Citizenship test in their native language. I know for a fact his in laws do not speak a word of English, as I have called their house looking for him several times.

The bottom line is: by telling a little white lie about religious persecution, they are allowed an income for life that they did not earn. That is persecution of hard working taxpayers. This entire Refugee program is an upside down cake.

Furthermore: even if it was all real as there are others that are real, this directly affects Americans who are in need of a job. We need to shut it down totally until we become flush with cash again as a country.

We need to eliminate the entire program and operate it on an individual basis with true volunteers.

The reason you do not hear from the public is fear of losing their job or demonized as a racist.

Somali chain migration to Minnesota hits a snag

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update:  A kind reader explains the various visas used for chain migration, here.

I’ve had this story to post for a few days, but wasn’t quite sure what to make of a couple of bits of information in it and was hoping to be able to tell you more, but can’t at the moment.  If you are a reader familiar with resettlement help us understand this story by sending a comment.

First, a little background:  back in 2008 the US State Department discovered that lo-and-behold many Africans (mostly Somalis) trying to get their “relatives” into the US weren’t even related to the persons they were getting in, but before the extent of the lying was fully known the State Department estimates that over 30,000 entered the US fraudulently.  There are no plans to find them and remove them.

The program, known as P-3 (family reunification) was put on hold and is still not fully open.  As a matter of fact some of those contractors testifying to the State Department May 1 meeting were begging for it to be fully re-opened (they get paid by you to help process in the ‘family’).  One of the options for identifying legitimate family members is DNA testing, but that idea hit some snags (or at least that is the last I heard).

And, by the way, here is an article from 2009 in which we are told that the State Department thinks DNA testing is expensive and time consuming and should be used only as a last resort.   I suppose it is neither time-consuming or expensive if it weeds out people who were going to get into the US fraudulently and become dependent on our ‘services’ (food stamps, education, subsidized housing, healthcare, etc.) or had terrorism in mind.

Now, according to this article by reporter Allie Shah in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, it appears that the ‘families’ have been using the I-130 visa* for their chain migration and that too has been stymied (Homeland Security and the State Dept. must know something we don’t know).    I’m wondering why they aren’t using the I-730 visa to get around the P-3 moratorium.  Does anyone know?

So, here is the story I am puzzled about (emphasis mine):

A major bump has surfaced in the well-traveled road from Nairobi, Kenya, to Minnesota for Somali refugees hoping to reunite with family members here.

Recently, the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi began asking for more proof to verify that refugees applying to come here are who they say are.   [See Ireland post yesterday—ed]

The result, according to immigration attorneys in Minnesota familiar with the changes, is that the embassy is rejecting applicants at an alarming rate.

“I got a spike of clients in the last four months,” said Abdinasir Abdulahi, a Minneapolis immigration attorney. “They were storming into my office.”

The trouble began near the end of 2011, he said, when embassy officials started requiring applicants for what’s called the I-130 visa to produce a refugee ID issued by the Kenyan government.

Since 2007, Kenya has required Somali refugees to register with the government and carry an ID, but many refugees don’t understand the requirement, Abdulahi says.

Identifying refugees fleeing Somalia has always been a sticky issue. Most people arrive in neighboring Kenya without any papers.

In the past a sworn affidavit would do it!  Imagine that!  I guess these State Department officials don’t know about Taqiyya (Muslims are allowed to lie to unbelievers in order to defeat them.)

In the past, embassy officials have accepted sworn affidavits from town elders to confirm the identities of individuals. More recently, in response to reports of fraud, they rely on DNA testing to prove, for example, that a person claiming to be the sister of a Minnesota Somali really is the sister.

But even the DNA evidence doesn’t seem to be enough to satisfy officials, say some local immigration attorneys, who argue that the tighter rules amount to unnecessary red tape. They’ll discuss the issue Friday at a meeting of the local chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

In conclusion, I would like to know more about why they are using the I-130 to skirt the State Department closure of P-3 and how extensive is the use of DNA testing for the I-130s or the I-730s for that matter!

* When you have a few extra minutes check out the massive numbers entering the US on I-130 visas here.