UPCOMING EVENTS
Friday, October 24, 2008
October Lobbying
-> We will be lobbying both the House and Senate with a coalition from RADAR. Our issue, how VAWA encourages and subsidizes IMMIGRATION FRAUD, will be front and center!
Read about our PAST EVENTS
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Working with RADAR, our lobbying efforts to stop HR 6088, the Volunteer DV Attorney Network bill, have exceeded our dreams . Not only did we stop the bill from passing, but we dissuaded even a single more Representative from co-signing the bill. Rep. Ted Poe never saw it coming.
Democratic candidate Barack Obama announced Sen. Joe Biden as his vice presidential pick. We can thank Sen. Biden for all the broken families, FALSELY ACCUSED AMERICANS, heartbroken dads, and kids in single-parent homes caused by the Violence Against Women Act. This is a wake up call! Fix VAWA now!
DID YOU KNOW?
On October 20, 1999, a federal district court in New Jersey joined the 9th Circuit and the Federal District Court in Washington, D.C. in ruling that the use of secret evidence violates a non-citizen's due process rights: "The government's reliance on secret evidence violates the due process protections that the Constitution directs must be extended to all person within the United States, citizens and resident aliens alike. The INS procedures patently failed the ... test of constitutional sufficiency." Yet, an American citizen is not given due process rights when accused of abuse by a foreign spouse!
DEFINITION
Marriage immigration fraud is defined as the act of an immigrant entering into a sham marriage with a U.S. citizen in order to receive priority immigration status.
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MISSION STATEMENT
Our goals are simple, yet challenging. We want to give guidance to those that have been victimized by deceptive foreign spouses, a broken immigration system, and an unfair judicial system. We also hope to prevent other American men and women from having to experience these injustices. We want the the USCIS and ICE to enforce immigration marriage fraud violations uniformly across the board, and not just when it is convenient or when they can garner splashy news headlines. We want the USCIS and ICE to investigate claims of fraud by individuals, not ignore the evidence and grant residency to the immigrant because it is too expensive and time consuming to conduct the investigation. We want the USCIS and ICE to to consider evidence presented by a citizen spouse when a claim of abuse is made by an immigrant spouse, so that false claims of abuse cannot be used as an advantage to gain residency. We seek to redress the injustices that have been produced by unfair application of VAWA laws and the unfairness of the judicial system, as well getting our elected leaders to make changes in the immigration system which will prevent foreign spouses from being rewarded with a green card when a false claim of abuse is made.
WHY IS THIS ISSUE A CONCERN?
Some provisions of the Violence Against Women Act are being used within the immigration system to deny an American spouse a fair opportunity to present a defense to the USCIS when an allegation of abuse is made by a foreign spouse, whether it be a man or a woman. The lives of American citizens are being destroyed both emotionally and financially. Their reputations are being shattered within their communities.
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In a recent joint investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), more than eighty people were arrested in various marriage fraud conspiracies. On the ICE website, in a story about that investigation, we would like to bring attention to the following quotes:
U.S. Attorney O'Neill stated, "Sham marriages are a threat to Homeland Security. They subvert our immigration laws and our efforts to ensure proper and legal identification of those who enter and remain in our country. Those individuals who take illegal shortcuts to citizenship, or assist in that activity, will be investigated and prosecuted."
What does it take to get the US Attorney's Office or ICE to initiate an investigation of an individual? Experience and history shows they only investigate large scale rings.
"Benefit fraud poses a significant vulnerability that must not go unchallenged," said Special Agent in Charge Weber. "Operation Knot so Fast should send the clear message that ICE and its law enforcement partners 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."
ICE needs to send a clear signal to individuals that fraud has consequences. As it stands now, immigrant spouses know that individual fraud is not investigated.
"Marriage fraud will not be tolerated. It is a direct attack to the national security of the United States," said Director Redman. "The process of detection of marriage fraud begins the moment an application is submitted to our agency and later when a couple comes to our offices for a marriage interview. So, beware. The job of our adjudicators is not just to grant or not an immigration benefit. It is also, and most definitely, keeping our country secure."
Our country is far from secure when so many individuals have exploited our country's immigration system without a system of checks and balances.
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TAKE ACTION!
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Send a letter to your
Representative and Senators.
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(Coming soon)
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QUOTES
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the Constitution has left the building; may truth, justice, and the American way be damned." - Terri Lynn Tersak
"I am here today to deliver a clear message. Marriage and visa fraud potentially threaten the national security of the United States." - Special Agent Tom Depenbrock
"One would be hard pressed to design a procedure more likely to result in erroneous deprivations. Secrecy is not congenial to truth seeking. No better instrument has been devised for arriving at the truth than to give a person in jeopardy of serious loss notice of the case against him and the opportunity to meet it." - Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter
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