visa journey is over for 23 aliens in cincinnati

[soniew910 0]

http://www.wbns10tv.com/live/content/onnne...iage_Fraud.html?

CINCINNATI, Ohio — Federal authorities have charged 50 people in an alleged Cincinnati-based scheme to arrange sham marriages to evade U.S. immigration laws.

Authorities unsealed the indictments Tuesday of 23 people they say are in the country illegally and 27 U.S. citizens involved in sham marriages.

Federal officials say all 50 suspects are charged with marriage fraud, 49 are charged with making false written statements and 39 are charged with making false representations.

Each crime is punishable by up to five years imprisonment and a fine.

Those in the country illegally also face deportation.

Authorities say illegal immigrants paid fees to U.S. citizens and leaders of the operation to arrange marriages and create false marriage and immigration documents.

The ongoing investigation led to 10 indictments in March.

[VetsWife328 7]

Thats messed up ! It's because of people like that that all of us who are in honest and true relationships have to endure long wait times to be reunited with our loved ones!

Nat

[Minya's wife 25]

Thats messed up ! It's because of people like that that all of us who are in honest and true relationships have to endure long wait times to be reunited with our loved ones!

Nat

I don't really see how people these people, who have committed a crime impact the long wait times of those waiting to be reunited with loved ones?

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Thats messed up ! It's because of people like that that all of us who are in honest and true relationships have to endure long wait times to be reunited with our loved ones!

Nat

I don't really see how people these people, who have committed a crime impact the long wait times of those waiting to be reunited with loved ones?

They don't... but it's nice to b1tch about it

[HAL 9000 96]

Thats messed up ! It's because of people like that that all of us who are in honest and true relationships have to endure long wait times to be reunited with our loved ones!

Nat

I don't really see how people these people, who have committed a crime impact the long wait times of those waiting to be reunited with loved ones?

They really don't. Unless ICE does the paperwork processing K-1s and other visas. Which of course... they don't. But we need something to make irrational rants every now and then.

[Fandango 1,439]

http://www.wbns10tv.com/live/content/onnne...iage_Fraud.html?

CINCINNATI, Ohio — Federal authorities have charged 50 people in an alleged Cincinnati-based scheme to arrange sham marriages to evade U.S. immigration laws.

Authorities unsealed the indictments Tuesday of 23 people they say are in the country illegally and 27 U.S. citizens involved in sham marriages.

Federal officials say all 50 suspects are charged with marriage fraud, 49 are charged with making false written statements and 39 are charged with making false representations.

Each crime is punishable by up to five years imprisonment and a fine.

Those in the country illegally also face deportation.

Authorities say illegal immigrants paid fees to U.S. citizens and leaders of the operation to arrange marriages and create false marriage and immigration documents.

The ongoing investigation led to 10 indictments in March.

Shame they didn't just sneak into the country, then they'd be 'undocumented'

[redglasses 1]

[ScottThuy 140]

Thats messed up ! It's because of people like that that all of us who are in honest and true relationships have to endure long wait times to be reunited with our loved ones!

Nat

I don't really see how people these people, who have committed a crime impact the long wait times of those waiting to be reunited with loved ones?

It sux that there was not much detail in the story.. no countries identified as the source of the fradulent beneficiaries. And I looked for another source with more detail but all had the same generic AP source info... They do impact the rest of us at some consulates that get scolded for not catching them.. this causes the CO to take a closer look at everyone and increases the number of petitions in the fraud investigation queue at the consulate...

[k.loveh 0]

Thats messed up ! It's because of people like that that all of us who are in honest and true relationships have to endure long wait times to be reunited with our loved ones!

Nat

I agree, because of these scams as well as other scams, 'such as the petitioner not being aware that they're being scammed by the beneficiary', most all these type cases are 'suspect' and are placed under the microscope due to scam Spousal/Fiance petitions such as the above .

I don't think? that Nat, nor am I talking about the 'intitial processing time' from petition approval to Embassy receiving them. But the added processing time that comes 'after' the interview, A.P. and/or returned for further review or even sometimes flat out denied because of being suspect due to, in part, of 'seemingly' legitimate 'non-legitimate cases from the embassies experiences with them. Because these scams are so good at presenting themselves as legitimate, it makes it more difficult for the sincere ones to be processed smoothly and in fair time.

Edited August 23, 2009 by hkgaur

[HAL 9000 96]

Thats messed up ! It's because of people like that that all of us who are in honest and true relationships have to endure long wait times to be reunited with our loved ones!

Nat

I don't really see how people these people, who have committed a crime impact the long wait times of those waiting to be reunited with loved ones?

They really don't. Unless ICE does the paperwork processing K-1s and other visas. Which of course... they don't. But we need something to make irrational rants every now and then.

bump

[Dakine 26]

Thats messed up ! It's because of people like that that all of us who are in honest and true relationships have to endure long wait times to be reunited with our loved ones!

Nat

I don't really see how people these people, who have committed a crime impact the long wait times of those waiting to be reunited with loved ones?

Simple!

In the old days people didn't even have to have a interview as there wasn't many scammers.

Didn't need piles of evidence that reviewers had to wade thru either.

[familyguy 2]

It sux that there was not much detail in the story.. no countries identified as the source of the fradulent beneficiaries. And I looked for another source with more detail but all had the same generic AP source info... They do impact the rest of us at some consulates that get scolded for not catching them.. this causes the CO to take a closer look at everyone and increases the number of petitions in the fraud investigation queue at the consulate...

CINCINNATI - Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) today began locating and arresting 50 people named in 27 federal indictments charging them with participating in a Cincinnati-based scheme to arrange sham marriages in order to evade U.S. immigration laws. Those indicted include 23 people who are in the United States illegally and 27 U.S. citizens they married.

33 individuals were subsequently taken into federal custody.

Gregory G. Lockhart, U. S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Brian Moskowitz, special agent in charge of ICE's Office of Investigations in Detroit, announced the arrests and indictments today.

A federal grand jury returned the indictments on August 5. The indictments were unsealed today. All 50 are charged with marriage fraud. Forty-nine are also charged with making false written statements and 39 are charged with making false representations. Each of the crimes is punishable by up to five years imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000 and three years of supervised release. Those who are in the country illegally also face deportation.

"Marriage fraud poses a major vulnerability that must not go unchallenged," ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton said. "The significant number of indictments today as well the previous convictions that have been handed down as a result of Operation Honeymoon's Over should send the unambiguous message that ICE will not tolerate the exploitation of our country's immigration system. Whether you are marrying one person under false pretenses or various people, or facilitating the fraud, know this - you will be found, arrested and held accountable for your actions."

"The investigation has unraveled a scheme to arrange marriages between Eastern European aliens and U.S. citizens," Lockhart said. "The Eastern Europeans paid a fee to the U.S. citizens and the leaders of the conspiracy to arrange the marriage. They created false documents indicating that the marriages were legal and presented the false documents to immigration officials."

These arrests are part of an ongoing investigation dubbed Operation Honeymoon's Over. Ten of the individuals were indicted in May 2009 on charges of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud. Of those, eight Cincinnati-area residents have already pleaded guilty to arranging multiple sham marriages in order to help resident aliens obtain permanent legal residence status. They are awaiting sentencing.

The two others indicted in May remain at large. To date, this investigation has led to 13 convictions.

Conspiracy to commit marriage fraud is punishable by up to five years imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000 and three years of supervised release.

Last year, ICE made 238 criminal arrests related to marriage fraud schemes and was successful in handing out convictions for 198 of those individuals. ICE also seized nearly $430,000 in assets related to these cases.

[HAL 9000 96]

Thats messed up ! It's because of people like that that all of us who are in honest and true relationships have to endure long wait times to be reunited with our loved ones!

Nat

I don't really see how people these people, who have committed a crime impact the long wait times of those waiting to be reunited with loved ones?

Simple!

In the old days people didn't even have to have a interview as there wasn't many scammers.

Didn't need piles of evidence that reviewers had to wade thru either.

What ICE does or doesn't do doesn't impact wait times.

I could see, of course, the backlog from X number of cases in the system being fraudulent and thereby adding to adjudicator work loads. But seriously... out of the grand total of things, even these fraudulent cases make up a very small minority (as far as any here can know except those of us that know people that work in USCIS) of the total case load across all service centers.

Therefore, whining about fair-minded people getting pushed back to the end of the line by fraudsters isn't really a strong argument beyond seeing what we want to see.

[spectheintro 18]

But seriously... out of the grand total of things, even these fraudulent cases make up a very small minority (as far as any here can know except those of us that know people that work in USCIS) of the total case load across all service centers.

Therefore, whining about fair-minded people getting pushed back to the end of the line by fraudsters isn't really a strong argument beyond seeing what we want to see.

I would posit that fraudulent cases are the primary reason for the current complexity and time-intensity of the immigration process. If there were no fraudulent cases, or if they represented an overwhelming minority of cases, I sincerely doubt the process would require as much paperwork and scrutiny as it does. So while these 23 aliens are unlikely to affect our particular cases, it is a fallacy to assume that continued discoveries of visa fraud will not contribute to making immigration to the US more complicated--just as the September 11th attacks dramatically changed the ways in which student and worker visas were issued to a sizable chunk of the world's population.

[MouadsWife 161]

Well, maybe those ppl do make an impact. Maybe not necessarily on the wait times... but if there wasnt marriage fraud in the first place, or alot of it, then maybe we would not have to put up with as much stuff as we have to going through this process and maybe there would be less denials on visas. Just a thought!