Immigration fraud
Because we have to rely on the New York Post to learn what’s happening in Minnesota:
Bombshell ICE sweep in Minneapolis-St. Paul finds 50% of immigrants had committed immigration fraud
What kinds of fraud? All kinds of fraud. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency issued an extraordinary press release. The headline:
Immigration officers discovered immigration fraud in forms of marriage fraud, fake death certificates and other bizarre schemes.
Where did these “bizarre schemes” take place? Details from USCIS:
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, in coordination with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, conducted Operation Twin Shield, the first of its kind targeted surge of fraud detection and deterrence activities across Minneapolis-St. Paul and surrounding areas Sept. 19 to 28 —immigration officers discovered suspected fraud in 275 cases in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.
The national USCIS director held a 20-minute press conference yesterday here in town. The video is available here.
This two-week operation was massive. More than 1,000 cases were examined. From those, 900 site visits were attempted. What did they find?
…evidence of fraud, non-compliance, or public safety or national security concerns in 275 cases—44 percent of cases interviewed. USCIS coordinated with our ICE and FBI partners, who provided valuable assistance during the operation. As of today, USCIS issued Notices to Appear (NTAs) or referred aliens to ICE in 42 cases, and 4 aliens were apprehended.
The schemes cover the waterfront, Alpha News reports,
Our officers encountered blatant marriage fraud, visa overstays, people claiming to work at businesses that can’t be found, forged documents, abuse of the H1-B visa system, abuse of the F-1 visas, and many other discrepancies.
The findings “should shock all of America,” said USCIS Director Joseph Edlow, as quoted by Alpha News.
Why Minneapolis? The Post reports,
The Twin Cities were chosen because the “data” showed it as a hotspot for “manipulation and misuse of the immigration system,” officials said, with cases of marriage fraud found to be a particular problem.
Marriage fraud. Huh.
But these findings shouldn’t surprise any resident of Minnesota. After all, fraud is Minnesota’s brand.
In addition to the New York Post, The New York Times, the Associated Press (AP), and national Fox News reported on the event.
Lou Raguse of KARE-11 covered the press conference and asked questions. The Sahan Journal was also on hand, among others, and filed a report:
The timing of the investigation coincides with reports that immigration officials were questioning international students last week at at least three apartment buildings on or near the University of Minnesota campus.
in addition to Alpha News, local outlets reporting on the press conference included Fox-9, KSTP, WCCO, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and the St. Paul Pioneer Press, among others.
[Note: An earlier version of this post appeared at Power Line.]