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.
ON THE NET...
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http://www.memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S5&P1=166
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http://billroggio.com/archives/2006/11/irans_involvement_in.php
"Iran's Involvement in Somalia, with al-Qaeda
Iran seeks uranium in exchange for training, weapons. Somali Islamists fought with Hezbollah in Lebanon against Israel. Saif al-Adel is plotting against the West with the help of the IRGC."
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Further details emerge on the United Nations report on foreign involvement in Somalia. The UN report shatters the myth that Sunnis and Shiite terrorists and nations would not cooperate due to ideological differences in religion and an intense hatred between the sects. Reuters notes that Somali Islamists fought in Lebanon against the Israelis over the summer in exchange for training, weapons and the potential transfer of nuclear material to Iran. Syria also provided training to Somali Islamists. As we noted, Iran has supplied the Islamic Courts with anti-aircraft weapons as well as anti-tank missiles."
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1739323/posts
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/15/usomalia115.xml
"Iran tried to swap guns for Somali uranium"
By David Blair, Africa Correspondent
Last Updated: 1:29am GMT 16/11/2006
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Plutonium find 'is evidence of Iran going ahead with nuclear plan'
Iran tried to obtain uranium from Somalia in return for supplying weapons to the anarchic country's Islamist movement, according to the United Nations.
A report given to the Security Council today finds that Iran is one of seven countries breaking a UN arms embargo by providing weapons to the Islamic radicals who control most of southern and central Somalia, including the capital, Mogadishu.
Three illegal arms shipments from Teheran are detailed in the 86-page report. One consignment which reached Somalia in July included 1,000 machine guns, 45 surface-to-air missiles, M-79 rocket launchers and land mines.
After the arrival of this shipment, the UN says that Iran promised the Islamists further weapons – but only in return for uranium, presumably for use in Teheran's nuclear programme.
Two Iranians were sent to Mogadishu in order to negotiate this deal. Somalia's recoverable uranium deposits are modest, totalling about 6,600 tonnes, compared with 326,000 tonnes in Canada, the world's biggest producer."
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http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/014067.php
(TheAustralian.news.com.au)
November 15, 2006
"Iran sent 700 Somalis to fight Israel"
http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/061115dc.htm
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NOTE: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1739476/posts
Two Massachusetts imams accused in immigration scheme
Boston Globe ^ | 11-16-06 | Yvonne Abraham and Raja Mishra
Posted on 11/16/2006 1:09:15 AM PST by xtinct
Federal immigration agents arrested imams from two Boston-area mosques Wednesday, alleging they were involved in a scheme that provided religious worker visas to immigrants who used them to enter the United States and work instead as gas station attendants, truck drivers, and factory laborers.
Hafiz Abdul Hannan, imam, or leader, of the Islamic Society of Greater Lowell in Chelmsford, and Muhammed Masood, imam, or leader, of the Islamic Center of New England in Sharon, were among 33 people taken into custody nationwide after a multi-year investigation led by agents in Boston and New York, said Paula Grenier, a spokeswoman for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...