fraud

NY To Give Illegal Immigrants COVID Checks Of Up To $15,600, Republicans Hit Back: ‘In New York, It Pays To Break The Law’

New York will offer “one-time payments of up to $15,600 to undocumented immigrants who lost work during the pandemic,” according to reports.

With a price tag of $2.1 billion, “The fund, which could provide payments to hundreds of thousands of people excluded from other pandemic relief, ignited a battle among state lawmakers before it was approved this week,” according to The New York Times. . . Read more about NY To Give Illegal Immigrants COVID Checks Of Up To $15,600, Republicans Hit Back: ‘In New York, It Pays To Break The Law’

Video: Enough Votes To Turn The Election

Berkley Students Planning Fraudulent Course to Circument ICE Rules, Avoid Deportation

Hundreds of students at the University of California -- Berkeley are privately discussing a plan to create a "dummy" course solely to help international students on F-1 student visas avoid deportation under new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement  (ICE) regulations -- and they say at least one faculty member is on board, Fox News has learned. . . Read more about Berkley Students Planning Fraudulent Course to Circument ICE Rules, Avoid Deportation

Seattle Requests Coronavirus Relief Funds for Illegal Immigrants in Seattle

 

Seattle Requests Coronavirus Relief Funds for Illegal Immigrants in Washington
 

While the Left continues to claim the illegal immigrant population does not place a financial burden on the American taxpayers, the Seattle City Council passed a resolution this week asking Governor Jay Inslee to create a $100 million “relief fund” for illegal immigrants who were ineligible to receive a coronavirus relief check from the federal government.. . 

  Read more about Seattle Requests Coronavirus Relief Funds for Illegal Immigrants in Seattle

ICE: Operation Stolen Promise

 

 

COVID-19 has brought much of the world to a halt, while social distancing and other preventive measures have become the new normal for society. The disease is currently affecting approximately 195 countries around the world. Despite the danger and uncertainty this global pandemic has caused, individuals and organizations around the world are attempting to take advantage of it for illicit financial gain. These illegal efforts not only compromise legitimate trade and financial systems, but threaten the integrity of the U.S. border, and endanger the safety and security of the American public.

With its expansive authorities, robust cyber capabilities, and strategic partnerships worldwide, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is uniquely positioned to combat the efforts of perpetrators who violate the laws of the United States to further COVID-19-related criminal activity. . .

  Read more about ICE: Operation Stolen Promise

ICE HSI El Paso investigating COVID-19-related fraud, such as unauthorized test kits, face masks, diluted cleaning solutions, anti-viral products

EL PASO, Texas – Criminal organizations continue to try to smuggle fraudulent, mislabeled, and unauthorized COVID-19 related products, such as purported anti-viral products, personal protective equipment (PPE), and test kits across the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez border.

Special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) are collaborating with U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP), and other law enforcement partners, to seize this merchandise, investigate the schemes, and warn the public of the health and safety risks involved in buying and using these fraudulent and tampered products. . . Read more about ICE HSI El Paso investigating COVID-19-related fraud, such as unauthorized test kits, face masks, diluted cleaning solutions, anti-viral products

Birthright Tourism

Birth tourism is a term which refers to the practice of foreign mothers-to-be traveling to the United States on tourist visas for the specific purpose of giving birth in the U.S. in order to obtain U.S. citizenship for their child. The secondary goal of the mother may be to eventually secure legal permanent resident status, also colloquially known as a “green card.” . . . Read more about Birthright Tourism

Big! States can prosecute illegal aliens for identity theft

It’s hard to believe we needed a court case, that had to go to the Supreme Court, to allow state prosecution of illegal aliens who steal identities. But, we did.

The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that state governments can prosecute illegal aliens of identity theft, including aliens who use false Social Security numbers to unlawfully gain employment. . . Read more about Big! States can prosecute illegal aliens for identity theft

Administration looks to end birthright tourism

On January 21st, the Trump administration announced it would begin cracking down on the practice of birth tourism. A newly published rule directs consular employees at the State Department to deny tourist visas to pregnant women who have no legitimate reason for visiting the United States other than to give birth. 

Birth tourism is a booming underground industry in the United States due to our current interpretation of birthright citizenship. Federal agents arrested three people last year in California for operating a multimillion-dollar birth tourism business. These businesses draw foreign nationals to the United States in order to procure U.S. citizenship for their unborn children. Citizen children can sponsor their parents for a green card when they turn 21. . . Read more about Administration looks to end birthright tourism

Southern Poverty Law Center fires co-founder Morris Dees

The Southern Poverty Law Center fired Morris Dees, the nonprofit civil rights organization's co-founder and former chief litigator.

SPLC President Richard Cohen said in a statement Dees' dismissal over his misconduct was effective on Wednesday, March 13....

"As a civil rights organization, the SPLC is committed to ensuring that the conduct of our staff reflects the mission of the organization and the values we hope to instill in the world," Cohen said in the emailed statement. "When one of our own fails to meet those standards, no matter his or her role in the organization, we take it seriously and must take appropriate action."

Dees, 82, co-founded the Montgomery-based organization in 1971. 

"It was not my decision, what they did," Dees said when reached by phone. "I wish the center the absolute best. Whatever reasons they had of theirs, I don't know."...

Dees' termination is one of several steps taken by the organization this week, Cohen said. 

"Today we announced a number of immediate, concrete next steps we’re taking, including bringing in an outside organization to conduct a comprehensive assessment of our internal climate and workplace practices, to ensure that our talented staff is working in the environment that they deserve — one in which all voices are heard and all staff members are respected," Cohen said. 

What the SPLC wants the "next steps" to address or correct remains unclear. An SPLC spokesperson said the organization was "in the process of hiring" the firm for the workplace climate assessment, and no other leadership changes had been announced. 

A message seeking further comment was left on Cohen’s cell phone Thursday afternoon.

"I’ve read the statement they issued," Dees said when asked if he knew why he was fired. "I feel like some of the things in the statement were unfortunate. But I refuse to say anything negative about the center or its employees. I’ll let my life’s work and reputation speak for itself."

When asked if he was offered the chance to resign or retire, the 82-year-old said, "I've told you all I can tell you."

Dees' biography appeared scrubbed from the SPLC's website as news broke of his termination on Thursday afternoon. 

Morris Dees, SPLC funding and civil rights cases

A Montgomery native, Dees attended Sidney Lanier High School. He burnished his marketing chops by managing a direct sale book publishing company while attending the University of Alabama, where he also earned a law degree. 

After returning home to establish a law practice in 1960, Dees won a series of civil rights cases before establishing the SPLC with lawyer Joseph J. Levin Jr. and civil rights activist Julian Bond a decade later.

Southern Poverty Law Center President Emeritus Julian Bond, left, and founder Morris Dees at the SPLC's 40th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday April 30, 2011 at the Civil Rights Memorial Center in Montgomery, Ala.(Montgomery Advertiser, Mickey Welsh) (Photo: Montgomery Advertiser)

The legal partnership netted significant civil rights triumphs. Dees challenged systemic discrimination and segregation in Alabama state trooper ranks in a case won in the U.S. Supreme Court. SPLC litigation challenging Alabama's legislative districts forced the state to redraw its districts in the early 1970s, leading to the election of more than a dozen black legislators in 1974.

Morris Dees is a co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery.

Early SPLC lawsuits also fought for better conditions for cotton mill workers in Kentucky, women in the workplace and poor defendants on death row. The organization bankrupted a Ku Klux Klan Organization, the United Klans of America, in a 1987 civil case. 

Dees has been a fixture in politics since the group's ascension, though his organization has faced scrutiny in the past.

A 1994 Montgomery Advertiser series provided a deep look into the organization controlled by the multimillionaire Dees, illustrating his near-singular control over the organization and its mammoth budget.

The series, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, revealed a figure seen as heroic by some and single-minded by others. Dees' critics said he was more concerned with fundraising than litigating. 

The series also alleged discriminatory treatment of black employees within the advocacy group, despite its outward efforts to improve the treatment of minorities in the country. Staffers at the time “accused Morris Dees, the center’s driving force, of being a racist and black employees have ‘felt threatened and banded together.’” The organization denied the accusations raised in the series.

"I would hope the IRS and the Justice Department would take this as [an] opportunity to come in and take a close look at The Center, it's finances and it's day-to-day operations," said Jim Tharpe, managing editor of the Advertiser in the mid-1990s, who oversaw the Advertiser series. "It's long overdue."

Dees' central role in the organization has also led to numerous threats against him, and the Advertiser previously reported that he has 24-hour protection at his home.

SPLC a war chest of funds that dwarfs over NAACP and Equal Justice Initiative

Over the years, the SPLC has continued to amass massive funds from donors amid differing levels of scrutiny. The nonprofit has hundreds of employees and offices in four states. The organization had nearly $450 million in net assets, according to publicly available tax documents filed for 2017.

That figure easily dwarfs other civil rights groups — such as the Equal Justice Initiative and the NAACP — during the same time frame. The Montgomery-based EJI had about $57 million in net assets at that time and the NAACP had about $3.8 million.

SPLC still fell behind other groups, like the American Civil Liberties Union, which pulled in more than $526 million between its main nonprofit and foundation in 2017 filings, with several local groups collecting additional millions of dollars not included in that figure.

In recent years, the organization has become nationally known and scrutinized for its Hatewatch work tracking the rise of hate groups, particularly white supremacists.

It produces research and advocacy work on a variety of topics, including payday lending, civil asset forfeiture and immigration rights. The SPLC also continues day-to-day civil rights litigation, including an ongoing lawsuit to address prison conditions in Alabama.

“The SPLC is deeply committed to having a workplace that reflects the values it espouses — truth, justice, equity and inclusion, and we believe the steps we have taken today reaffirm that commitment," Cohen said.

Brian Lyman contributed to this report.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Melissa Brown at 334-240-0132 or mabrown@gannett.com.

  Read more about Southern Poverty Law Center fires co-founder Morris Dees

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - fraud