It seems the US State Dept has a "P-3" refugee program to admit thousands of African Nation refugees ( primarily Somalia, Ethiopia and Liberia - maybe Muslim nations?) to the US if they are "related" to existing "legal" US residents. Over 36,000 P-3 refugees were admitted to the US since October 1, 2003.
But, or course, State didn't do a good job of verifying claims of family ties, and many non relatives entered the US illegally through the program. The problem was discovered when dna tests were taken of the "legal" US resident and compared to dna of the admitted refugees, and 80% did not show any blood relationship. Many of the initial fraud cases were from Kenya.
Way to go, State... again, we have a Federal agency that does not provide adequate oversight of a program and is apparently admitting illegal immigrants through this program.
The detailed article below is from a newspaper in Tennessee that is seeing vast increases in immigrants from the refugee program. Players include the Catholic Charities which apparently manage some of the resettlement cases, and Tyson foods, which has hired many Somalis in the Shelbyville, TN area. According to another article from the same newspaper, workers at the Tyson Foods' poultry processing plant in Shelbyville will no
longer have a paid day off on Labor Day, but will instead take the
Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr in the fall.
vj
PS: Since this blog is based in Florida, we did a Google search on Florida Refugees and found that FL does indeed have a refugee program, but most are from Cuba and Haiti, and about 10-12,000 are admitted per year. See http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/740837.html
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Refugee program stayed after feds confirm fraud
Sunday, November 16, 2008
The reported fraud spurred the State Department to suspend a humanitarian program in August which was supposed to reunite African "anchor" refugees already in the states with their family members who are still overseas.
DNA testing conducted earlier this year by the government to verify blood ties between anchor refugees and their supposed family members revealed that fewer than 20 percent of those checked could confirm their biological relationships, the fact sheet stated.
The suspension impacts the Priority Three (P-3) Program of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, which grants access to those claiming to be "a parent, spouse, or minor child by certain legal residents in the United States."
Priority One (P-1) and Priority Two (P-2) refugees are admitted into the program based upon their vulnerability in their native country, through a referral from the United Nations. The P-1 and P-2 statuses of the program have not been suspended.
An applicant for refugee status must establish that he or she has suffered persecution or has a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, creed or origin.
"In recent years, applications to the P-3 program have been overwhelmingly African -- primarily Somalis, Ethiopians and Liberians -- accounting for some 95 percent of the P-3 applications," the fact sheet from the U.S. Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration stated.
When asked about the fraud described, Catalina Nieto, director of advocacy and educational programs for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said that the State Department fact sheet is "a very general report and it is referring to all refugees, not particular to Shelbyville."
The rights group is made up of a coalition of immigrants, refugees and their American-based supporters who work to "improve the rights and the public's perception of Tennessee's rapidly growing foreign-born population."
"We are talking about folks who are eager to reunite with their families and are eager to bring their friends and families to a safe and peaceful place," Nieto said.
Shelbyville has seen an influx of Somali refugees within the past few years, and there has been no reported evidence that any fraud has been perpetrated by local refugees. The suspension, however, may impact local refugees who are hoping to be reunited with family members here.
"The U.S. Government has a fair share of the responsibility to help resettle refugees from war torn areas," Nieto said. "We don't want government bureaucracy to be a significant obstacle for reuniting families."
Fraud uncovered
The DNA tests were conducted after both the Departments of State and Homeland Security jointly decided to test a sample of refugee cases due to reported fraud in the P-3 program, particularly in Kenya, the fact sheet explained.
The rate of fraud varied among nationalities and from country to country, "and is difficult to establish definitively as many individuals refused to submit DNA samples," the State Department said.
Samples of some 500 refugees, who were under consideration for U.S. resettlement through the P-3 program, were initially tested in Nairobi, Kenya.
But after the sample "suggested high rates of fraud," testing was expanded to Ethiopia, Uganda, Ghana, Guinea, Gambia and Cote d'Ivoire, the State Department said.
"Most of the approximately 3,000 refugees tested are from Somalia, Ethiopia and Liberia," the fact sheet said. The initial DNA testing "was limited to members of families applying for the P-3 program, and not between the applicants and the anchor relative in the United States," the State Department explained.
Family reunification processing and resettlement in Kenya and Ethiopia was halted in March, the State Department said, and the suspension was expanded in May to include the countries where the second round of DNA testing was done. The State Department also stopped accepting applications for the P-3 program on Oct. 22.
"The Departments of State and Homeland Security, along with our resettlement agency partners, are currently discussing how to handle applications that were submitted earlier this year," the fact sheet said.
Impact on refugees
Holly Johnson, State Refugee Coordinator for the Tennessee Office for Refugees said Friday that to her knowledge, the suspension "has not had a significant impact on the local program."
"It will impact refugees nationwide who have submitted a non-fraudulent application for a parent, spouse, or minor child because they will be separated from their family indefinitely," she said.
Johnson said all resettlement agencies "are under strict guidelines regarding the reporting of suspected fraud in refugee families, and we are no different."
"I take it very seriously," Johnson told the Times-Gazette. "Of the hundreds of resettlement cases that I have handled in the ten years that I have worked in the local resettlement program, there were only two cases (in the state) where I suspected the possibility of fraud."
Those cases were reported immediately to their national organization, Catholic Charities, Johnson said, and then were passed on to the State Department and/or the Department of Homeland Security. She added they were not notified of the outcome of these reports because of confidentiality guidelines.
Johnson said that Catholic Charities' focus "is on resettling refugees that the U.S. State Department selects and sends to Middle Tennessee."
"Our goal is to have them living independently within six months of arrival," she said. "The many refugees that have resettled here over the last 40 years have a solid track record of getting on their feet and joining the community very quickly."
Johnson also noted that while those who work with refugees understand the deplorable living conditions that would inspire one to attempt to flee by any means possible, "we strongly believe that the established guidelines must be followed in order to preserve the integrity of the U.S. refugee program."
"In no way do we excuse or condone the falsification of these applications, and are saddened by the fact that honest people are suffering because of the dishonesty of others," Johnson said.
Tyson comments
Gary Michelson, director of media relations for Tyson Foods, which employs nearly all of the Somali refugees that live in Shelbyville, said that Tyson has "zero tolerance for employing people who are not authorized to work in the U.S. That's why we use all available tools provided by the U.S. government to verify the documents of the people we hire."
"We check the employment documents of all new team members when they are first hired," Michelson said.
New hires are required to fill out a Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification Form and are required to present documents that prove identity and employment eligibility.
Since 1998, Tyson has also voluntarily participated in the U.S. government's Basic Pilot/Employment Eligibility Verification Program, which is now known as E-Verify, an internet-based system operated by the DHS in partnership with the Social Security Administration.
Tyson also uses the Social Security Number Verification System (SSNVS), an on-line service offered by the Social Security Administration (SSA), which allows registered users (employers and certain third-party submitters) to verify the names and Social Security numbers of employees against SSA records, Michelson said.
"If we learn one of our workers may not have proper authorization to work in this country, we take immediate measures. If they are unable to correct any discrepancies in their documentation, then they are released from employment," Michelson said.
Verifying claims
New methods of verifying family relationship claims are now being developed with the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department said, which may include voluntary DNA testing. The P-3 program in Africa will remain suspended until new measures are finalized and implemented.
However, exactly what measures will be taken against the thousands of refugees who have come into the country through the P-3 program in the last 20 years will be a question for the Department of Homeland Security to answer, the fact sheet said.
Since October 1, 2003, some 36,000 people have arrived from Africa through the P-3 program, the fact sheet explained, but also only some 400 people have arrived from other parts of the world through the program.
The P-3 program has not been suspended for non-African nationalities, the State Department said, noting that "the number of individuals applying from non-African countries, such as Burma, Cuba, etc., is very small."
Citizens from Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma, Burundi, Central African Republic, Colombia, Cuba, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eritrea, Ethiopia, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe are eligible for consideration through the P-3 Program.
COMMENTS Submitted to the Newspaper website - they are listed in reverse order, with last comment at the top:
Mr Ali none of us are trying to insult you. We are just trying very hard to understand our government, which in case you haven't noticed, is quite difficult. No one blames you directly for being inside the United States it is the ones who come here with fraudulent intent we have a problem with. The article above states plainly, of the refugees checked about 20 percent can not confirm any biological relationships. In case you didn't know but that's 20 out of every 100, and does seem to be more than just "less than a dozen." I am sorry your wife will be unable to join you for a while but you must understand America is going through some major problems right now and we need to stop anyone that does not have America's best interest at heart.(not saying your wife does by any means but it is oblivious that some are coming into the United States under false pretense) If that means stopping everyone from coming into the states then so be it.
Also I am not trying to be rude to you but you sure do write English well to be Somali. Do you mind if I ask how long you have been in the United States?
So Guys its the Somali insult day. Say what ever you can. We Somalis immigrate to US legally,it is almost impossible for a Somali to immigrate to US without a lenghy background check,health screens,axhausting interviews by the Department of Homeland Security,fingerprints,and many other processes. We always appreciate the Americans for welcoming us to their country,and we want to be part of the American society.We work hard,we pay taxes,we contribute to the community.We ran from a civil-war,we suffered enough,we witnessed horror and we would never immigrate if we had peace back home. Almost everyone in America is a decendant of an immigrant family. So guys dont give us a hard time,since we already had enough hard time.
Once again the issue of Somali TB (tuberculosis) isnt even mentioned.
It is a fact that one 20 year old male Somali virtually died on the production floor of a Tyson facility in Kansas. He reported to the facility nurse sick and was transported to a local hospital where he was DEAD ON ARRIVAL.
This is per the Board of Health of Lyon County, Kansas, the county Emporia is in.
According to statements made to me by such staff members, the Somali's side step the health screening that is supposed to be mandatory by simply getting directly transported to the Tyson facility they will be working at.
All the checks and balances are no good as long as they are avoided.
The suspension affected me. I am a legal Somali immigrant,I applied for my wife to join me through P-3,and due to the suspension,Iam not expecting my wife to join me anytime soon.The whole matter is being capitalised. Somalis come here as legal immigrants,only few cases can be proved to be fraudelent. If counted,there will be no more than a dozen fraudelent cases.
Why does this not surprise me? of course I still have a problem with employers being responsible for hiring them if they are not in the country legally.
Checking a Somalis Social Security number is a joke. They come into the country as refugees with no documentation, nothing, no ID, no nothing. Most don't even have a clue when their birthday is..our government issues them a Social Security card based on the fact they are refugees and they are who they say they are. Social Security fraud comes mostly from the Hispanic Population because they are not given a Social Security Number upon entry especially if they are not here legally. I can cross check Social Security IDs all day long of the Somalis and they will come back as who they say they are because the fraud was done when they entered the USA. But that still don't tell me if they are here under fraud or not.
So when Tyson checks the SSNVS it is a total waste of time. The verification should have started when they entered the US, not afterwards.
Brian,
Thank you for bringing this to the forefront on illegal immigration. We at American Patrol website have had this as continuing stories for along time. With different reports just like yours. I have submitted this one to our website. Tyson foods are responsible for every one of these Somali refugees being in our county. And when they fire them they are supposed too return them back too there homeland. But that is not happening. And we the taxpayers of Bedford County pick up the tab. Our county is turning too A United Nations experiment. And we are the victims. ABP JS
Award-winning Times-Gazette journalist Brian Mosley has once again done an important investigative piece with both local and national implications vis a vis Somalis refugees in Shelbyville and major locations in the US such as Nashville, Columbus, Ohio and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Upwards of 80,000 Somalis refugees have been brought to the US, under a State department administered program authorized under the Refugee Act of 1980. The matter of possible immigration fraud is far broader than the abuses cited in the suspension of the P-3 (family reunification) program of the State Department legal humanitarian program for African refugees. For example there have prior studies about abuses of the minority Bantu designation by Somali immigrants under this federal program virtually controlled by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The Bantus in Somali were a ethnic minority in virtual slavery to the dominant Muslim tribal groups in the war-torn country. Perhaps that might be an additional area of investigation by Mosley in his continuing stories on this problem roiling African refugees seeking aslyum in the US under this billion dollar legal humanitarian refugee program administered by the State department, US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement, state social service departments units for refugee resettlement and contracting volunteer agencies ("VOLAGS") like Catholic Charities cited in the Mosley article. Again, bravo to Mosley and the editors for this ground breaking article in the Shelbyville Times-Gazette.
a fradulent p-3 surely won't self-report to the t-g.does an employer report the refugee employment status to ins when they terminate a fraudulant p-3?if not,why not?if so,how many have been reported in bedford county and middle tennessee?
Thank you Tyson for bringing such attention to our small town. With all the plant closures in the area, maybe you can hire some Americans to work in your plants. You will not have to check immigration to hire them.