Posted on 12/11/2013 6:12:23 AM PST by jazusamo
The Obama administration overruled career Homeland Security officials and expedited visa applications for about two dozen foreign investors for a politically connected Las Vegas casino hotel after repeated pressure from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his staff, according to internal government documents obtained by The Washington Times.
The move to overturn what is normally a non-appealable visa decision came despite concerns about “suspicious financial activity” involving some of the visa applicants from Asia, and it ultimately benefited several companies whose executives have donated heavily in recent years to Democrats, the documents show. It also ensnared Mr. Obama’s current nominee to be the No. 2 Homeland Security official, Alejandro “Ali” Mayorkas, whose appointment is to be reviewed by the Senate on Wednesday.
The intervention from Mr. Reid’s staff was so intense at one point a year ago that a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) official reported that it prompted a phone shouting match, turning a normally bureaucratic review process inside the Homeland Security Department into a politically charged drama that worried career officials.
“This one is going to be a major headache for us all because Sen. Reid’s office/staff is pushing hard and I just had a long yelling match on the phone,” USCIS Legislative Affairs official Miguel “Mike” Rodriguez warned in a Dec. 5, 2012, email to Homeland Security Department officials.
The emails, obtained by The Times from government officials concerned that the EB-5 investor visa program has become too politicized, detail how the SLS Hotel, formerly known as the Sahara Casino, tried to jump to the head of the line for its request for about two dozen visas for Asian investors willing to help it fund a major renovation of the storied property on the Las Vegas Strip.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
I remember the brown clown telling Americans not to go to Vegas.
That must have before he got the pillow fluffer unions kickback.
You never quit the mob. Gotta rent the movie “Casino”.
Democrats being Democrats. Not a word about this on the CNN, ABC or NBC news websites. Obviously nothing to see here, folks. Business as usual...move on.
Within the universe of Harry Reid corruption, this is a parking ticket.
Yep, and it won’t be seen on those networks.
This was payback by Reid to his mob friends in Vegas.
What about republican governor Otter soliciting Chinese millionaire visas for Project 60 in Idaho?
Millionaire visas was a campaign issue in the recent Virginia governors election.
Large numbers of Mexicans are arriving in Texas and California on the visa.
Even Australia has a millionaire visa.
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