ON THE NET...
http://www.ice.gov
November 15, 2006
"ICE arrests 33 in connection with religious worker visa fraud scheme"
WASHINGTON, D.C.
http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/061115dc.htm
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http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2006/11/15/national/w133210S23.DTL&type=printable
"Dozens of Pakistani Immigrants Arrested"
- By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
(11-15) 15:43 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Dozens of Pakistani immigrants who came to the United States posing as religious workers were arrested Wednesday, authorities said, as Homeland Security agents tried to close a commonly exploited avenue for illegal immigration.
Immigrants who were supposed to be teaching or conducting religious ceremonies were arrested across the East Coast, where authorities said many worked as gas station attendants, taxi drivers, landscapers and factory workers.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have been scrutinizing the religious worker visa program, which a 2005 review found was rife with problems. Homeland Security officials found fraud in one of every three religious visas they reviewed.
"What we see are religious institutions such as churches that may exist only on paper but are sponsoring people," ICE spokesman Dean Boyd said. "Our concern is we don't know who these people are. They're obviously not who they say they are and they don't have religious training."
Those arrested include a textile factory worker in Atlanta, a truck driver in Philadelphia and a gas station attendant in New York, officials said. Most of the 33 people were from Pakistan.
Though most were not performing religious work, authorities said two Massachusetts imams were arrested for using fraudulent documents."
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http://michellemalkin.com/archives/006377.htm
"The religious worker visa scam"
By Michelle Malkin · November 15, 2006 09:42 PM
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http://www.jewishworldreview.com/michelle/malkin021203.asp
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Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/061115dc.htm
November 15, 2006
ICE arrests 33 in connection with religious worker visa fraud scheme
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents today arrested 33 individuals in eight states and the District of Columbia in connection with an ongoing investigation into a specific visa fraud scheme that was designed to help large numbers of illegal aliens, primarily from Pakistan, fraudulently obtain religious worker visas to enter or remain in the United States.
ICE agents arrested each of the individuals on administrative immigration violations. The arrests were made by ICE agents in Boston, MA; New York, NY; Buffalo, NY; Hartford, CT; Atlanta, GA; St. Paul, MN; Newark, NJ; Philadelphia, PA; Harrisonburg, VA; and Washington, D.C. Those arrested will be processed for removal proceedings and have an opportunity to appear before an impartial Immigration Judge. Some of those arrested could face criminal prosecution on visa fraud charges.
The multi-year investigation by ICE agents in New York and Boston has revealed that petitioners in the United States filed false applications on behalf of large numbers of illegal aliens under the Religious Worker Program, which is administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The illegal aliens paid substantial cash fees to the petitioners to file fraudulent paperwork on their behalf in order to obtain religious worker visas for which they were not eligible.
Under the Religious Worker Program, aliens with religious training and experience can obtain work visas and, ultimately, green cards if religious organizations in the United States, such as churches, synagogues, or mosques, sponsor them. To qualify for the religious worker visas, aliens must, among other things, be in the United States solely for religious employment; must have received a job offer as a religious worker; and must not be working in any secular employment.
Many of those arrested today were not religious scholars or religious workers, but were illegal aliens employed as gas station attendants, truck drivers, or factory workers, among other things. Others arrested today were religious workers, but had used fraudulent identity documents in obtaining their religious worker visas. Finally, ICE agents also took into custody six additional illegal aliens who they encountered during their efforts to apprehend beneficiaries of the visa fraud scheme.
ICE has found numerous cases of religious worker visa fraud involving individuals from many different nationalities and religions. Earlier this month, Dong Wan Park, 53, the former pastor of a church in Washington state, appeared in federal court in Tacoma after being deported to the United States to be sentenced for orchestrating a large-scale religious worker visa fraud involving South Korean nationals.
The pastor, a South Korean national, had filed fraudulent applications for South Koreans he claimed were coming to the U.S. to serve as associate pastors at the Hope Korean Church, where he served as pastor. None of the visa applicants was ever employed at the church or had any religious training.
An August 2005 Benefit Fraud Assessment of the religious worker visa program by USCIS found a substantial rate of fraud among applications for such visas. In the report, USCIS surveyed a random sample of 220 religious worker petitions and found indications of fraud in more than 32 percent of the petitions.
ICE is working closely with USCIS, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies in this ongoing investigation. USCIS has revoked the visas of each of the beneficiaries of this scheme. This case underscores the success of increased cooperative efforts between ICE and USCIS. Following the creation of the Office of Fraud Detection and National Security, USCIS has become an active partner with ICE supporting investigations of immigration benefit fraud.
-- ICE --
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of four integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.
