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Harry Reid loves the EB-5 program — and now we know why. The visa grants residency status for those who invest $500,000 or more in a US venture, assuming that the applicant can pass a background check for emigration. DHS supposedly prevents fraud and worse by conducting these background checks, but it turns out that Reid’s only interested in another kind of check entirely. ABC News’ Nightline did an exposé of the EB-5 program, showing that officials twist arms (or have theirs twisted) to bypass the background checks in order to get favored individuals into the US (via Daniel...

Officials overseeing a federal program that offers an immigration short-cut to wealthy foreign investors have ignored pointed warnings from federal agents and approved visas for some immigrants suspected of having committed fraud, money laundering, and even one applicant with alleged ties to a child porn website, an ABC News investigation has found. The shortcomings prompted concerns within the Department of Homeland Security that the boutique immigration program would be exploited by terrorists, according to internal documents obtained by ABC News.

As the year comes to an end, two disturbing stories illustrate how the Obama administration is deliberately compromising national security by drastically expanding a fraud-infested program that lets rich foreigners buy U.S. visas and losing track of 96% of the illegal immigrants recently ordered deported. This is outrageous by any standards. In the first case, an obscure program known as EB-5 that lets wealthy foreign investors essentially buy their way into the United States has skyrocketed under Obama. The capital area’s conservative newspaper published a distressing story this week that reveals the visa program has mushroomed under Obama despite its...

President Obama used his executive authority to increase the availability of visas for Chinese workers and students, a move that immigration hawks regard as a signal that his promised executive orders regarding immigration are coming soon. “Obama announced a new plan Monday to extend Chinese student visas to five years and business and tourist visas to 10 years, saying the move will boost jobs in the United States,” USA Today noted.

An Obama administration plan to facilitate the immigration of up to 100,000 Haitians to immigrate to the U.S. without a visa is fraught with medical risks, particularly the spread of diseases endemic to Haiti.

Canada on Friday announced it was suspending visa applications for residents of Ebola-hit nations in a bid to prevent the deadly virus from crossing its borders. Immigration Canada said authorities would not process any visa applications from individuals who had been in an Ebola-affected nation "within three months prior to the date of the application." "Canada has been a leader in the international efforts to respond to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa," said Chris Alexander, Canada's immigration minister. "The precautionary measures announced today build on actions we have taken to protect the health and safety of Canadians here at...

SYDNEY - Australia issued a blanket ban on visas from West African nations affected by the Ebola outbreak Tuesday, making it the first rich nation to shut its doors to the region and earning criticism from health experts and rights groups. Australia has not recorded a case of Ebola despite a number of scares, and conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott has so far resisted repeated requests to send medical personnel to help battle the outbreak on the ground. Immigration Minister Scott Morrison told parliament Monday that all non-permanent or temporary visas from Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia were being cancelled...

“We are in a dangerous place in the world, perhaps more dangerous than in the past 10 years.” That’s what former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff had to say when he visited The Heritage Foundation recently. And with reports of terrorist groups such as the Islamic State, often referred to as ISIS, all over the news, it’s not hard to see why. As Chertoff noted, terrorist groups have proliferated “from Africa east to Afghanistan.” Frightening images of beheadings and other forms of graphic violence are all too common. And news that some Americans have gone to the Middle East...

Venezuela’s Tarek El-Aissami The Americas Report | Oct 03, 2008  By Nicole Ferrand [...] Mr. El - Aissami is a Venezuelan national of Syrian descent who, before becoming Minster of Interior and Justice, occupied the position of Deputy Interior Minister for Public Security. His father, Carlos Aissami, is the head of the Venezuelan branch of the Iraqi Baath political party. Before the invasion of Iraq, he held a press conference in which he described himself as a Taliban and called Osama Bin Laden, "the great Mujahedeen, Sheik Osama bin Laden." Tarek's great-uncle Shibli el-Aissami was a prominent ideologist and...

Release Date: August 15, 2014 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is closely monitoring the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. USCIS offers relief measures to nationals of those three countries who are currently in the United States. Immigration relief measures that may be available if requested include: Change or extension of nonimmigrant status for an individual currently in the United States, even if the request is filed after the authorized period of admission has expired; Extension of certain grants of parole made by USCIS; Expedited adjudication and approval, where possible, of requests for off-campus employment authorization for F-1 students experiencing...

Thomas Eric Duncan case raises questions about U.S. preparedness to stem deadly virusThe first case of Ebola diagnosed within the U.S. is prompting calls for heavy travel restrictions between the U.S. and those West African countries hardest hit by the outbreak — and one advocate is even warning against the possibility of “Ebola tourism” by patients seeking better care here. Thomas Eric Duncan, the first diagnosed case, remained in isolation in a Texas hospital Thursday after having traveled from Liberia last month, leaving health officials to try to track down up to 100 persons he may have come in contact...

No Jews Allowed Democrats have a Jewish problem: US Embassy in Tel Aviv Severely Restricts Visas for Israelis Tourist visa process cancelled until further notice, embassy announces. From the Obama State Dept: “Due to the current security situation in Tel Aviv, U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv remains open but is operating at reduced staffing until further notice, and has canceled routine visa application processing and American Citizen services,” the statement says. “Emergencies involving an American citizen and visa applications will be considered on a case by case basis.”

The US embassy in Tel Aviv has cancelled tourist visa applications for Israelis, according to a statement on its official website, in a move it claims is a matter of staffing and security. "Due to the current security situation in Tel Aviv, U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv remains open but is operating at reduced staffing until further notice, and has canceled routine visa application processing and American Citizen services," the statement says. "Emergencies involving an American citizen and visa applications will be considered on a case by case basis." The statement surfaces in the midst of both souring US-Israel relations and...

Perhaps the least attractive henchman of imperial publisher Rupert Murdoch (and there is fierce competition for that distinction) got into the U.S. on an H-1B visa, lost the job that got him the visa, and, apparently, has not left the U.S. as he should have done. I am grateful to Ben Smith of Politico for breaking the story. It all ties into the huge controversy in the U.K. about Murdoch's media empire, and the serial wiretapping of the phones of murder victims and the royal family by his reporters. The Murdoch corporate employer is American Media Inc. which relates to...

The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee voted last week to admit more high-tech foreign workers in some categories than the annual supply of them. In its eagerness to meet the wishes of the high tech industry — and steal jobs from qualified American workers — the Republican majority on the committee, with the single, commendable exception of Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), voted to allow as many as 55,000 green cards to be issued annually to aliens with advanced science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) degrees from American universities.

Over the past three weeks, we've heard several excuses for the denial of visas to the United States for Israelis. We've been told that visas were denied in order to remove Israel from the 'white list' of countries whose citizens qualify for longer-term visas. We've been told that the United States has been systematically denying visas to Shin Bet (General Security Service) and Mossad agents, to representatives of the IDF and to executives of companies in Israel's defense industry, and it was implied that was out of a fear of competition in the defense industry. And we've been told that...

This may be the first and last time I ever write these words: America, follow Canada. Our neighbors to the north finally have wised up to the international cash-for-visas scam. Last week, the country ended its foreign investor program that put residency up for sale to the highest bidder. We should have done the same a long time ago. Canada's Immigrant Investor Program granted permanent residency to wealthy foreigners who forked over 800,000 Canadian dollars for a five-year, zero-interest loan to one of the country's provinces. The scheme turned out to be a magnet for tens of thousands of millionaires...

Several weeks ago I posted a piece on FrontPage Mag entitled “The Muslims Are Coming!” about a recent documentary following a troupe of Muslim standup comics as they toured the country, enlightening all the middle-American clods who have somehow gotten the crazy impression that Islam poses a threat. I harshly attacked this concept; my take was that the world has an Islam problem, not an Islamophobia problem, and that claiming otherwise and slapping a happy face on the issue is insulting and pointless. The film’s producer and co-director Dean Obeidallah, who is also one of the featured comedians, unsurprisingly took...

…From its inception in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood has been the subject of persecution due to its commitment to a single goal —transitioning the world into an Islamic empire. ..The Muslim Brotherhood saw its gains as “one small step” for Islam and “one giant leap” for Muslimkind. Not content with small successful steps, it moved to take a giant leap in Egypt. ...Morsi was the Muslim Brotherhood’s “poster boy,” coming to office because the Brotherhood was the only domestic organization with the infrastructure in place to support a candidate.…What the Muslim Brotherhood had planned for Egypt extended far beyond those...

Although the conversation on immigration reform tends to unfold in terms of border security, enforcement of laws, and pathways to citizenship – there is one critical aspect this debate that has failed to break through all of the other noise. Immigration reform could help the economy grow--if done the right way. Instead of getting bogged down in negotiations about amnesty and its various forms, conservatives should drive the conversation toward STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and H1-B visas. These visas can help bring the world’s best and brightest to America--the kind of people who will start businesses, buy...