Free Republic

The No. 2 official at the Homeland Security Department improperly intervened on behalf of foreign investors in three cases involving the U.S. government soliciting investments in exchange for American visas, the agency's inspector general said Tuesday. Investigators said he helped secure the visas, and created the appearance of favoritism and special access. The investigation could not suggest a motive for the official's involvement.

The State Department has awarded 4,453 permanent resident "Diversity Visa" applications to would-be immigrants from Iran, a state sponsor of terrorism that was recently implicated in a plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States.The lottery program for Diversity Visas awards prospective immigrants with the chance to obtain a permanent residency visa. The 4,453 prospective Iranian immigrants will still have to pursue their visa applications on their own, according to the State Department’s website. To be eligible, applicants must have at least a high school education or two years of work within the previous five years at...

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. “It is shocking,” said Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican. “Particularly when you have F.B.I. and other law enforcement agencies...

More than 5.46 million foreign nationals received work permits from the federal government since 2009, according to a new report from the Center for Immigration Studies. Data uncovered from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency reveal that approximately 982,000 work permits were given to illegal immigrants and other foreign nationals unqualified for admission, most of whom crossed the border without inspection. USCIS is the agency within the Department of Homeland Security responsible for issuing work permits and processing applications related to President Obama’s executive action on immigration. On Tuesday, the Senate is scheduled to vote on a bill that...

These statistics indicate that the executive branch is operating a huge parallel immigrant work authorization system outside the bounds of the laws and limits written by Congress.

ABC-TV reports on suspicious visas being fast-tracked -- and the role top Democrat, Harry Reid, played. 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 DHS concerns that the boutique immigration program would be exploited by terrorists, according to internal documents obtained by ABC News. “It is shocking,” said Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa...

Federal agents in Los Angeles are investigating an L.A. shipping firm and its Iranian-born owner who for years have participated in and promoted an obscure U.S. immigration program -- allowing the company to recruit wealthy foreign investors to receive visas and potentially Green Cards, law enforcement sources told ABC News. Whistleblowers inside the federal agency that oversees the immigration have been deeply frustrated by an inability to de-certify the company, even after they became aware of the investigation and saw the company’s name surface in an alarming internal Department Homeland Security memo. The memo outlines concerns that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards...

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...