Posted on 12/08/2008 10:51:09 PM PST by neverdem
As a clerk at the Dominican Republic Consulate in New York, Francisco Estevez enjoyed a number of diplomatic perks, including something any frequent flier would covet: an exclusive visa that amounted to an airport E-ZPass.
Mr. Estevez’s diplomatic visa granted him expeditious treatment whenever he went through customs, a perk that was extended to his immediate family members, and one that they apparently used often. In the past year, Mr. Estevez made more than a dozen trips to his home country, often returning to the United States with several people who he said were family members.
Except, the authorities said, the people flying with Mr. Estevez were not family members but people who had paid Mr. Estevez large sums of money to sneak them into the country. Mr. Estevez had carefully selected these people, the authorities said, because they resembled his family members.
Mr. Estevez, 48, was arrested on Friday in Philadelphia, and in an indictment unsealed on Monday, he was charged with “alien smuggling,” which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison upon conviction, said Yusill Scribner, a spokeswoman for the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan. She said it was unclear why he was arrested in Philadelphia.
According to prosecutors, Mr. Estevez devised the scheme to take advantage of his A-2 visa, given to foreign nationals who enter the United States to work full time in a consular post. The document allowed Mr. Estevez and his immediate family members — his wife, his mother and his six children — to bypass a host of security procedures that foreign visitors must typically go through, like having their digital fingerprints and photographs collected and scrutinized. It also granted them almost unlimited travel in and out of the United States.
For Mr. Estevez, the authorities said, those loopholes...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
FReepmail me if you want on or off my New York ping list.
When Obama and the big government Ivy League elites get done with the US economy, I don’t think we will have to worry about illegals wanting to come here any more.
Guaranteed if he’s doing it, others are too. Diplomatic Immunity my *ss! Fine him, his government, deport him, his family and remove those extra “perks” (legal loopholes).
It won’t happen, but it would be nice to see my country finally take a hard stand on sh*t like this.
Thanks for the ping!
ping
NYC has had tons of Dominicans for decades. They hate the Puerto Ricans and vs versa.
Thanks for the ping, gubamyster. Very interesting.
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