Inept USCIS Gives Asylum to a Smuggler
Thursday, April 1, 2010
By Michael Cutler
NewsWithViews.com
A
news
release was issued by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
on March 30th that is significant for a number of reasons.
First
of all, as the title of the press release notes, a citizen of Eritrea
has pleaded guilty to smuggling illegal aliens into the United States.
The aliens came from a wide variety of countries and all were ultimately
brought into the United States by circumventing the inspections process
along the border that is supposed to separate the United States from
Mexico.
In
order to get these aliens into the United States from as far away as
South Africa and East Africa via Latin America and, finally, into the
United States in Texas. Along the way, his "Magical Mystery Tour"
on some smuggling runs, included passing through Brazil and Venezuela,
the latter, a nation not considered a friend of the United States. It
causes me to wonder if the government of Venezuela offered any assistance
to the smuggler, Samuel Abrahaley Fessahazion, aka "Sami,"
aka "Sammy," aka "Alex" and aka "Alex Williams."
What
is of further concern to me, is the fact that Fessahazion was able to
game the immigration system and successfully commit immigration fraud
by obtaining political asylum by making false statements in conjunction
with his application for political asylum.
Consider
this passage from the press release:
According
to plea documents, from at least June 2007 until approximately January
2008, Fessahazion was the Guatemalan link of an alien smuggling network
that spans East Africa, Central and South America. Specifically, Fessahazion
illegally entered the United States at McAllen, Texas, on March 20,
2008. He applied for asylum on Sept. 30, 2008, claiming in his application
that he was traveling across Africa in 2007 and 2008, fleeing persecution
in Eritrea. However, Fessahazion was actually in Guatemala during that
period facilitating the smuggling of East African aliens to the United
States.
Fessahazion
was granted asylum by the United States on Nov. 13, 2008.
Think
about it, if he had not been able to con the bureaucracy at USCIS (United
States Citizenship and Immigration Services) it is entirely possible
he would not have been able to remain in the United States or travel
freely across our borders, an ability he gained when the agency charged
with maintaining the integrity of the immigration benefits program failed,
yet again!
According
to the press release, Fessahazion, himself, ran our nation's border
on March 20, 2008 and then he applied for political asylum roughly 6
months later. He had either studied our immigration "system"
or had been well coached. In any event, in under six weeks he was granted
political asylum.
I
have to repeat this to make certain you did not miss what I just wrote.
Fessahazion was granted political asylum just 6 weeks after he applied
for asylum even though he claimed to have been facing persecution in
Eritrea, nearly half way around the world!
Meanwhile
the investigation disclosed that while he claimed he was fleeing persecution
in Eritrea, he was apparently dodging law enforcement in Guatemala as
he smuggled East African aliens through that country en route to the
United States!
One
of my favorite Yiddish words is "Chutzpah." The classic example
of chutzpah is the young man who kills both parents and pleads for mercy
because he is an orphan! Now that is a clear demonstration of Chutzpah!
However, I believe that for an illegal alien (Fessahazion) to file an
application for political asylum based on credible fear while, in reality,
he was smuggling aliens into our country trumps the oft-quoted classic
example!
In
order to apply for political asylum an alien must establish "credible
fear." This means he must prove to our government that if he is
returned to his country his life will be in grave danger because of
his religion or other such factor. I would love to know how in blazes
USCIS conducted its investigation into Fessahazion's claim to "credible
fear" in just 6 weeks!!!"
I
would love to see that Report Of Investigation (ROI)!
The
granting of lawful status to aliens who enter our country is serious
business- all too often, deadly serious business!
In
January 1993, a Pakistani national by the name of Mir Kansi stood outside
CIA Headquarters with an AK-47 and opened fire on the vehicles of CIA
officials reporting for work on that cold January morning in Virginia.
When the smoke dissipated, 2 CIA officers lay dead and three others
were seriously wounded. Kansi fled the United States and was ultimately
brought back to stand trial. He was found guilty and executed for his
crimes. He had also been granted political asylum and had been subsequently
found to have lied on his application, thereby committing fraud.
Of
94 terrorists who were identified as operating in our country in the
decade leading up to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, some
59 or roughly two thirds of them were found to have committed immigration
fraud to enter our country and/or embed themselves in our country. Yet
Fessahazion, an illegal alien with an apparent penchant for using false
names, ran our nation's border, claimed political asylum and was then
rewarded by being granted political asylum and, in so doing was potentially
placed on the pathway to United States citizenship!
Yet
another sterling example of the competence of USCIS!
Before
we go any further, however, I do want to make an important point. Many
aliens who are granted political asylum are not engaged in criminal
activities but are fleeing horrific situations in their home countries.
My concern is that the vetting process is apparently more concerned
with keeping the bureaucratic production line moving at warp speed rather
than making certain that meaningful efforts are made to see to it that
the process has integrity. This is the clear obligation of our government
and it is yet another obligation that is not being met! There have been
a succession of GAO and OIG reports that document just how big a problem
fraud is throughout the entire immigration benefits program, a program
that is administered by USCIS.
I
am compelled to make the point that USCIS is the agency that would be
called upon to spring into action (likely landing on its collective
face) if our government manages to jam Comprehensive Immigration Reform
down our throats!
It
is absolutely astounding that the advocates for open borders and a sweeping
amnesty program from millions of illegal aliens whose true identities,
backgrounds, intentions and possible affiliation with criminal or terrorist
organizations under the aegis of "Comprehensive Immigration Reform"
keep noting how broken the system is. Yet they claim that the solution
is for the same broken system to be given the job of handing out the
keys to America's front door regardless of the irreparable damage that
this inept agency has already done to our nation's security!
Here
are a couple of other questions raised by the press release but not
answered by the press release:
Who
are Fessahazion's co-conspirators in the smuggling ring and where are
they now? Does our government have them in custody or even know their
identities?
What
ever became of the aliens who Fessahazion smuggled into the United States?
Are they in custody? If Fessahazion is being charged with conspiracy,
is anyone else being prosecuted for entering into the conspiracy? (As
the saying goes, "It takes two to tango!" You cannot enter
a conspiracy by yourself!) The others who engaged in the smuggling enterprise
would certainly be co-conspirators, but then too, the aliens he smuggled
also entered into a conspiracy with him or his partners.
All
to often our government has taken to the bizarre tactic of referring
to smuggled aliens as "victims of human trafficking."
When
a person is moved across international borders against his (her) will,
that person is most certainly a "victim of human trafficking."
Often we see this sort of reprehensible crime being conducted when women
are smuggled into a country for the purpose of engaging in prostitution.
However, an alien who pays a smuggler to enable him (her) to enter a
country without inspection is not a victim but is a co-conspirator!
Therefore
I would love to know what efforts are being expended to find all of
the aliens who were smuggled into the United States as a result of the
criminal activities of the smugglers who were involved in this case.
This,
of course, will be up to the prosecutors and the case agents to determine.
If
our country is to survive and if our children and their children are
to get their share of the "American Dream" the citizens of
this nation must take their citizenship seriously!
We
the People must be the best citizens we can be, citizens who are worthy
of the gallantry demonstrated by our valiant men and women in the military,
law enforcement and firefighters, who routinely go in harm's way in
defense of this nation and our citizens.
My
goal in writing this and other commentaries is to point out our nations
many failings before more victims pay the ultimate price for the incompetence
and ineptitude of our government.
The
first step in problem-solving is to first identify the problems and
vulnerabilities and then devise strategies to overcome them.
Any
politician who refuses to work to secure our borders and create an immigration
system that has integrity is either corrupt or too dumb to keep his
(her) job. Any politician, irrespective of party affiliation who favors
Comprehensive Immigration Reform and the outrageous betrayal that this
would represent given the national security implications that this program
would have, should be shown the door at the next election!
If
you find yourself to be in agreement with this commentary, I ask that
you forward it to as many of your friends and family members as possible
and encourage them to do the same.
Later
this year, each and every member of the House of Representatives is
up for reelection. Later this year more than one third of the members
of the United States Senate will have to face their constituents. They
need to be reminded that they work for us, We the People!
However,
the practice of good citizenship does not end in the voting booth, it
only begins there. The large scale apathy demonstrated by citizens of
this nation has emboldened elected representatives to all but ignore
the needs of the average American citizen in a quest for massive campaign
funds and the promises of votes to be ostensibly delivered by special
interest groups. There is much that we cannot do but there is one thing
that We the People absolutely must do- we must stop sitting on the sidelines!
The
collective failure of We the People to get involved in make our concerns
known to our politicians have nearly made the concerns of the great
majority of the citizens of this nation all but irrelevant to the politicians.I
implore you to get involved! If this situation concerns you or especially
if it angers you, I ask you to call your Senators and Congressional
"Representative. This is not only your right- it is your obligation!
All
I ask is that you make it clear to our politicians that we are not as
dumb as they hope we are!
Michael W. Cutler graduated from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York in
1971 with a B.A. in Communications Arts and Sciences. Mr. Cutler began
working for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in October
1971 when he entered on duty as an Immigration Inspector assigned to John
F. Kennedy International Airport. In August 1975 he became a Criminal
Investigator (Special Agent) for the INS at NYC.
He rotated through virtually every squad in the Investigations Branch. From 1988 until 1991
he was assigned as the INS representative to the Unified Intelligence
Division (UID) of the DEA in New York. In 1991 he was promoted to the
position of Senior Special Agent and was assigned to the Organized Crime,
Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) which required that he work with
members of other law enforcement agencies including the FBI, DEA, ATF,
U.S. Customs and local and state police as well as law enforcement organizations
of other countries including Israel, Canada, Great Britain and Japan,
to conduct investigations of aliens involved in major drug trafficking
organizations. He retired from the INS in February 2002, after a career
that spanned some 30 years.
Finally, Michael Cutler has appeared on numerous television and radio programs including
Lou Dobbs, Fox News, MSNBC and many other television and radio news-oriented
programs to discuss the enforcement of immigration laws.
E-Mail: mcutler007@aol.com
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