33 Arrested in Visa Investigation - washingtonpost.com
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IMMIGRATION

33 Arrested in Visa Investigation

Pakistanis Suspected of Posing as Religious Workers

By Karin Brulliard
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 17, 2006; Page B03

Federal immigration agents arrested 33 Pakistanis this week who entered the United States by posing as religious workers, part of a crackdown on a visa program considered to be rife with fraud.

The immigrants were arrested Wednesday in the District, Virginia and seven other states. They had visas that permitted them to work as religious scholars or leaders. But federal authorities said that most had no theological training and that many were driving trucks, pumping gas or not working at all.
The arrests, which resulted from an ongoing investigation, came more than a year after a Department of Homeland Security review of the religious worker visa program found widespread fraud. According to an August 2005 report, nearly a third of the 220 religious worker visa petitions surveyed were deemed to be falsified."This is a valid program that is absolutely intended for true religious scholars and workers," said Dean Boyd, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "When it's exploited by people who just want to come here illegally and work or potentially come here and commit some kind of nefarious act, that's a concern of ours."The immigrants were arrested on administrative immigration violations that could result in deportation. Some could face additional criminal immigration charges, Boyd said. None of those arrested appears to have ties to terrorism, Boyd said.Two of the Pakistanis were arrested in the District and one in Danville, Va. Authorities did not release their names because they have not been charged criminally, Boyd said. The person arrested in Danville worked in a Goodyear Tire store, Boyd said; he said he did not know the employment of those arrested in the District.The religious worker program permits foreign nationals with religious training and experience to get a work visa -- and eventually permanent residency -- if a U.S.-based church, mosque, synagogue or other religious institution sponsors them for employment. They are not permitted to obtain a secular job.Of those arrested Wednesday, two Boston imams were the only true religious workers, but they had used sham identity documents to get their visas, authorities said. The rest were employed in other fields. All had paid "substantial cash fees" to their sponsors, who filed the bogus applications, authorities said. The sponsors, who were not identified, will probably face charges, Boyd said.Last year's report cited cases in which visas were issued to immigrants who said they intended to work at facilities that officials discovered existed only on paper or not at all. In other cases, the petitioner, or sponsor, was unaware of an application. The petitioner in one case had filed at least 82 such applications, nearly all of which were identical, officials said.Chris Bentley, a spokesman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said that all visa petitions are facing increased scrutiny. The agency's Office of Fraud Detection and National Security, which wrote the report on religious worker fraud, is taking a similar look at other visa categories and checking applications more closely, he said.The federal immigration agency issued 1,854 visas to religious workers or their immediate family members in fiscal 2004, the most recent year for which data are available, he said.Wednesday's arrests marked the second major enforcement effort this year to target religious worker visa fraud. In June, a minister from South Korea was convicted of fraudulently sponsoring foreign nationals he said would be employed at Hope Korean Church in Tacoma, Wash.