Undocumented Chinese immigrants remain even after fraud ring bust

Four years after a mammoth asylum fraud ring was busted by federal agents in New York, none of the 3700 potentially bogus cases has been revoked. This raises concerns over the level of seriousness shown by the Obama administration on such immigration scams.

Undocumented Chinese immigrants, many of whom were already in the US, conned officials into giving them asylum. They did this by paying translators, lawyers and church officials to invent stories of persecution or forced abortions in their homeland because of the Christian beliefs of the immigrants. The fraud was closed down four years ago by the FBI, with many lawyers and assistants pleading guilty. But, the Obama administration told Congress over the summer, not one of the undocumented immigrants  who was granted asylum under false pretences has had this revoked or even investigated.

Virginia Republican Bob Goodlatte, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said that the refusal of the Department of Justice to reopen any of the cases, despite the full knowledge that asylum fraud was likely committed, is an endorsement of a completely tainted system. He added that it willfully ignores a significant vulnerability in national security and undermines the integrity of the whole asylum process.

In December, a scathing report, released by the Government Accountability Office, slammed the DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security for failing to conduct risk assessments or consistently look for fraud.