Fraud: The Immigration Vulnerability That Undermines the Immigration System and National Security

Discussions about immigration generally focus on the US/Mexican border.  When the issue of the enforcement of our immigration laws from within the interior of the United States is raised, almost always the discussion focuses on E-Verify and the need to punish unscrupulous employers who intentionally hire illegal aliens.

Certainly these topics are significant, however, the way that aliens acquire visas to enter the United States under the color of law and acquire immigration benefits that enable them to remain in the United States and work and maybe even become naturalized citizens is almost never considered by anyone- especially politicians and the news media.

Illegal aliens who run our nation's borders do not seek to emulate Apollo 11 Astronauts Neil Armstrong or Buzz Aldrin or those of their colleagues who followed them in succeeding missions to the moon.  Our astronauts traversed the quarter of a million miles to the moon in order to plant an American flag, pick up some samples of lunar rocks and soil and leave behind some scientific instruments and head for home.  Illegal aliens have no intentions of simply setting foot on the American side of the US/Mexican border, grabbing some rocks, planting a flag of their home country and promptly returning home.  They come to work illegally and perhaps engage in other illegal activities that may threaten national security and pose other threats to our safety and well being.  They are not just heading to the border region but are determined to travel to cities and towns scattered across the United States from coast to coast and border to border.

Not all illegal aliens run our borders either- some enter the United States through ports of entry either with visas or under the auspices of the ill-conceived Visa Waiver Program and then violate the terms of their admission.  In order to operate in the United States with impunity, visa fraud or immigration benefit fraud is the preferred MO (Modus Operandi).  This is not just conjecture on my part but was part of the findings of the 9/11 Commission.

Today we will consider two New Releases posted by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) that   report on fraud investigations.  Fraud is the crime that undermines the integrity of the immigration system and also undermines national security- yet it often goes undetected.  On those relatively rare instances where it is detected, generally only those who arrange the fraud are prosecuted while the aliens who benefit by entering into a criminal conspiracy with those who are ultimately prosecuted are almost never sought.  They go un-indicted, un-prosecuted and are often permitted to remain in the United States even though their visas and lawful immigrant status are far from legal and represent the fruits of a crime!

First let us consider the ICE news release dated July 5, 2012, that was entitled:

“Man convicted in New Jersey of immigration fraud extradited to U.S. from India after fleeing to avoid prison”

Here is an excerpt from that news release that demonstrates how aliens are able to game the immigration system and face little fear of detection or adverse consequences for their crimes:

“Between September 2004 and February 2006, (Naranjan) Patel conspired with Jonathan Saint Preux and his wife Michele Saint Preux to file fraudulent immigration applications on behalf of hundreds of illegal aliens who were seeking permanent residency status in the United States under a government sponsored amnesty program. The program allowed aliens to eventually seek permanent residency status if they could demonstrate they had illegally resided in the United States continuously between 1982 and 1988.

Patel and his co-conspirators helped aliens who did not meet these requirements file immigration forms which fraudulently represented that they did. The conspirators also coached the applicants on what to say during interviews with immigration officials.”

What is important in this report is that these aliens used the services of the defendants in this case to be granted residency on a “government sponsored amnesty program.”  This is only one a many such rings that have engaged in such massive fraud.  Furthermore the hundreds of aliens noted in the release are at large and it is not likely that they will be pursued for their crimes.  It must also be expected that the massive amnesty program announced by President Obama on June 15^th of this year will similarly suffer high levels of fraud that will go undetected and therefore unpunished.

Next let's look at the ICE news release that was posted on July 3, 2012 and was entitled:

“Former Department of Defense employees plead guilty to citizenship fraud”

Here is an excerpt from this news release:

Adeba Sultana, 47, admitted giving false information when she applied for U.S. citizenship in 2008. Sultana acknowledged she used a false name and provided erroneous biographical information on that application, claiming her husband had been killed and falsely describing her method of entry into the United States in various immigration benefits applications. In her application for naturalization, which was approved by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Sultana lied about her citizenship status and claimed she had not previously provided false information to U.S. immigration officials to obtain an immigration benefit.

Similarly, Sultana's husband, Mohammad Ali Rabbani, 58, admitted giving a false name, false citizenship information, and lying about his method of entry into the United States on his application for asylum and other immigration applications. In his application for naturalization, Rabbani gave false information regarding his citizenship status and falsely claimed he had not previously lied to U.S. immigration officials to obtain an immigration benefit.

The San Diego couple were previously employed as language instructors at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif.

It should be presumed that these two individuals were granted a security clearance in order to do the work that they did a the Defense Language Institute.  One of these two defendants was actually naturalized.

When was the last time you heard any of our nation's leaders discuss immigration fraud at all, let alone as the serious threat to national security it clearly represents?

It has been said that a chain is a strong as its weakest link.  Where the immigration system is concerned all that we have are weak and all but nonexistent links.