"Birth tourism house" is quite illegal

From PIX11:

An unlicensed day care facility where three infants and two adults were stabbed allegedly catered to Asian mothers lured to the United States by laws granting citizenship to anyone born on American soil, a New York law enforcement official said Saturday.

Investigators believe the foreign women would give birth at the facility before returning to their home country and applying for US citizenship, the law enforcement official said. The return allows them to remain in good standing with authorities back home and, at the same time, claim to have a direct relative in need of care in the United States.

"If they're playing it right, they go back so that they don't get a negative status," the official said. "Then they come back."

An underground "birth tourism" network stretching from the United States to China has sprung up in recent years to cater to growing numbers of Chinese mothers who travel stateside to give birth, according to affidavits filed by federal law enforcement officers.

Federal agents have carried out "birth tourism" raids as part of larger criminal investigations targeting US companies that have netted millions helping pregnant Chinese women fraudulently secure visas and other services.

The residential facility in the Flushing section of Queens was used mostly by Chinese women who give birth and stayed there before returning to China, a law enforcement source said Friday.

Katz as Katz can

Hello Crapmeister:

Check out this Katz propaganda from her latest Weekly Update from Queens Borough Hall. "Officiating" at the swearing-in of new citizens at King Manor on 9/17. See photo above.

She gratuitously left out the names of 5 people behind her, left to right:

1. The Master of Ceremonies of the entire event, Bryan Christian, Field Office Director, Queens Field Office, US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

2. Queens Field Office Section Chief, Ingrid Stochmal.

3. Queens Field Office Section Chief, Brian Meier.

4. Judge Eric Vitaliano, US Federal Court, Eastern District, who administered the Oath of Allegiance to the new citizens and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Katz in handing out the certificates of naturalization..

5. Nadezhda Williams, the new Executive Director of King Manor.

Katz mentioned the same old same old about the diversity of Queens. She told the gathering of her Ukrainian roots and the highlight of her Keynote Address was her mentioning that she was 50 years old and how hard it was to deliver her 4-year old son. "I'll never go through that again!" - anonymous

"State citizenship" proposed for illegal aliens

From the Daily News:

Undocumented immigrants in New York could become “state citizens” with a slew of benefits from driver’s licenses to voting rights under a bill to be introduced Monday.

Advocates are set to announce the measure that would allow immigrants who aren’t U.S. citizens to become New York State citizens if they can prove they’ve lived and paid taxes in the state for three years and pledge to uphold New York laws — regardless of whether they’re in the country legally.

The state bill, which would apply to about 2.7 million New Yorkers, will face long odds in Albany, where even more modest immigration reforms have failed to pass.

People who secured state citizenship would be able to vote in state and local elections and run for state office. They could get a driver’s license, a professional license, Medicaid and other benefits controlled by the state. Immigrants would also be eligible for in-state tuition and financial aid.

Private eye catches rent scammer

From the NY Observer:

Like something out of a spy movie, residential building owners are now using private investigators and hidden surveillance to track down absentee tenants in rent stabilized buildings.

In a recent case, law firm Rosenberg & Estis represented Blair Hall Inc., the owner of a 200-unit rent stabilized building in Queens. Using surveillance techniques, the firm was able to ascertain that tenant Janina Vilcek’s primary residence was in the state of Florida.

In a decision dated February 13, Judge Gilbert Badillo of the Housing Part of the Civil Court of the City of New York in Queens, awarded possession of the apartment to Blair Hall, Inc.

Via video surveillance using hidden cameras in Exit signs and smoke detectors, it was learned that Ms. Vilcek, who was also under investigation by the Secret Service on suspicion of partaking in multiple marriages to convey citizenship, was subletting her apartment to another building tenant while living in Florida.

Ms. Vilcek’s defense was hardly convincing, according to Judge Badillo.“To this Court’s observation, whenever [Ms. Vilcek] was confronted with the contradictions, she would no longer remember or understand the question or information,” he wrote in his decision.

The law firm also subpoenaed Ms. Vilcek’s phone records to ascertain her location and used internet databases to learn the Polish-born woman was registered to vote in Florida and had cars registered in multiple states.

Rich folk leaving USA in droves

From the NY Post:

Startling new data from Uncle Sam show that defections by Americans are expected to double this year, largely to avoid any stiff tax bills resulting from the proposed 55 percent hike on the rich — as well as the likely expiration on Dec. 31 of the Bush era tax cuts.

As many as 8,000 US citizens are projected by immigration officials to renounce in 2012, or about 154 a week, versus 3,805 in 2011, or about 73 per week.

“High-net-worth individuals are making decisions that having a US passport just isn’t worth the cost anymore,” said Jim Duggan, a lawyer at Duggan Bertsch, which specializes in protecting assets of the wealthy.

“They’re able to do what they do from any place in the world, and they’re choosing to do it from places with much lower tax rates,” he said.

“Some are philosophically disgusted at the course our country is taking in all kinds of ways. They’re making a strong protest of, ‘Enough is enough,’ ” said Duggan. “But largely it’s an economic decision.”

Don't let the bomb hit you on the way out

From the NY Post:

Al Qaeda has an opening for a new editor.

Killed along with terror mouthpiece Anwar al-Awlaki was Samir Khan, a former Queens kid turned militant Islamist who published “Inspire,” al Qaeda’s online magazine and recruitment tool.

Khan, 25, was a Saudi-born US citizen, whose family moved to Maspeth, Queens, in 1993, and later to Long Island. He lived the life of a normal New York teen until a month before 9/11, when he traded his street slang and baggy pants for Islamic extremism.

He attended a summer camp at a Queens mosque, and over time became a fundamentalist. Khan and his parents moved to North Carolina in 2004, when he began taking his Islamist crusade to the Internet.

His print/Web magazine spouted al Qaeda’s ideology of attacks on Westerners, and even gave how-to manuals on how to carry one out, such as an article titled “Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom.”

Khan moved to North Carolina after spending time in New York, and from there left for Yemen two years ago, according to published reports.

Non-citizens that vote face deportation

From the NY Times:

In the United States, only citizens are allowed to vote in national and statewide elections. And while immigrants who are granted permanent residency — a green card — enjoy an array of privileges, including the right to work, they can lose them all and be expelled from the country if the authorities discover that they have even registered to vote.

Uncovering an immigrant’s voting history is not always hard. Many proudly acknowledge having voted when applying for American citizenship.

Officials with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, which processes immigrants’ visas and naturalization petitions, say the agency does not keep records of how many noncitizens have been caught violating voting laws. Many election law experts said there was no evidence that the violations happened frequently — or at least enough to skew election results.

No group appears to have made the issue a central cause this election season, Mr. von Spakovsky said, but that could change if some results in crucial races are close. “That’s when people will potentially pay attention," he said.

William G. Wright, a spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the agency did not provide “specific information on voting rights” when granting green cards. But he pointed out that voter registration forms explain that an applicant must be an American citizen.

Long road to U.S. citizenship finally ends

From the Daily News:

A Queens Man who longed to become a U.S. citizen had his American dream deferred for 17 years because he shared a name with a wanted man.

But Miguel Mejia never stopped trying to convince the feds he's a hardworking, law-abiding man - and not the fugitive who was born on the same day in the same country.

And his persistence has finally paid off.

"Now I feel like part of the country," he said, proudly displaying his brand new American passport.

The 55-year-old Dominican-born man's long, frustrating road toward citizenship began in 1993 when his application was suddenly stalled by immigration officials.

When he asked why, Mejia said he was told that his file had been forwarded to the FBI because he had the same name, country of origin and date of birth as a crook named Miguel Mejia.

This Mejia had a rap sheet and was "not a very good guy," Mejia said.

Then, two years ago, a reporter for the Spanish-language newspaper El Diario/La Prensa got wind of Mejia's story. That report found its way to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who promised to help.

Another year passed before Mejia got the letter he'd been waiting for telling him that he was now officially a U.S. citizen.

"I was so surprised to finally get that letter," he said. "We all feel so happy. My whole family is overjoyed. It is a great feeling to see my sacrifices and hard work finally pay off."

Asked about his plans, Mejia said, "I'm going to keep working, God willing."

Paper offers 3 choices for enforcing 14th amendment

From the Times Newsweekly:

There is nothing wrong with the 14th Amendment, but its interpretation has been completely distorted of late—a fact that should outrage American citizens of every walk of life.

“Anchor babies” have been an immigration phenomenon in the U.S. since the 1980s. By latching onto rights granted under the 14th Amendment, illegal alien mothers give birth to their children in the U.S., making the babies eligible to receive welfare and social benefits. The parents of these children are virtually left alone, regardless of their status, since separating families is not exactly a popular idea.

The original intent of the 14th Amendment was clearly not to facilitate illegal aliens defying U.S. law and obtaining citizenship for their offspring, nor obtaining benefits at taxpayer expense.

Even if the law is interpreted in its most basic sense, the fact that a newborn anchor baby is a U.S. citizen does not automatically allow their extended family to remain in the country illegally. The infant’s birthright citizenship is not transferable to any other member of the family.

Amending the Constitution—a task so difficult that it’s only been done 27 times in two centuries—isn’t going to solve the immigration problem; changing the federal immigration laws already on the books will. By not correcting this misapplication of the 14th Amendment, the funds that state and local governments must provide to anchor babies amounts to a virtual tax on U.S. citizens to subsidize illegal aliens.

We offer three alternative options: 1) The mother can leave the newborn with someone in the country who is a citizen, then return to their native country. 2) The parents can take the child back to their native country and let them return when they are of legal age to live as citizens of the U.S. 3) The parents of the child can apply for citizenship before the child is born so they can remain in the country legally and enjoy the rights and privileges entitled to American citizens.

The 14th Amendment doesn’t need to be repealed and replaced; it only needs to be enforced as originally intended.

The anchor baby hotel

From BTN:

A New York hotel is staking its claim to have invented a new hospitality niche – birth tourism. The Marmara Manhattan offers “an exclusive package for new mothers that wish to give birth in the USA”, with the additional bonus of the newborn child gaining US citizenship.

The hotel, which is part of the Turkish hospitality chain, exploits the 14th amendment to the US constitution, which states that all children born on American soil “are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside”.

The Marmara Manhattan, which is located in New York’s Upper East Side, told The Times: “What we offer is simply a one-bedroom suite accommodation for $5,100, plus taxes, for a month, with airport transfer, baby cradle and a gift set for the mother.” There are also medical fees of about £20,500.

However the price is a cheap and easy one to pay for US citizenship. Many will eventually use the newborn - known as an “anchor baby” - as a stepping stone for the immigration of extended family.

The hotel has so far sold 15 of the packages.

According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the practice is entirely legal as long as the women can pay their medical bills.

However there are noises being made in Washington to close the loophole.
Gary Miller, a Republican congressman, told The Times: “They come to this country and have babies. The children are citizens. The children are eligible to go to school. They receive food stamps and social programmes. The American taxpayers are paying for it."

Key source markets include Hong Kong, South Korea and Turkey, where a number of travel agencies specialise in the birth tourism market.

“Many people say they are doing it because they want their kids to get a cheaper education and not deal with visa issues when they grow up,” said Levant Bas, of the Istanbul-based operator Gurib Tourism. “We have a package that covers everything from the flight and city tours to accommodation for several months and hospital expenses.

Debating the fate of anchor babies

From Fox:

"Anchor babies" is becoming well-known term in the nation's debate over immigration and may become its next focal point.

According to Time magazine, the term is being used to describe children born in the United States to illegal immigrants. The thought is that they help "anchor" these families into the country.

Legislation is being considered both in some states and at the national level that would deny birth certificates to these children, reversing a birthright currently guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment.

Many on both sides agree the debate will likely find its way to the Supreme Court.

The 14th Amendment states that "All persons, born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States."

According to the Library of Congress web guides, the 14th Amendment was ratified on July 9, 1968. "All persons born or naturalized in the United States" included freed slaves and their children.

Time states that Pearce believes the amendment was "hijacked" by illegal immigrants who "use it as a wedge" to "gain access to the great welfare state we've created."

NPR reported that similar legislation has been introduced in Congress and in two other states, Oklahoma and Texas.

The federal bill has 91 co-sponsors. ABC News stated that the "Birthright Citizenship Bill" would only grant citizenship "if the person is born in the United States of parents, one of whom is:
– a citizen or national of the United States;
– an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States whose residence is in the United States;
– or an alien performing active service in the armed forces."

Suspected terrorist admits to it

From CBS 2:

A court hearing was canceled Tuesday in part because of Shahzad's continuing cooperation with investigators, but authorities said they had shed little light on what might have motivated him.

Until recently, his life in the U.S. appeared enviable. He had a master's degree from the University of Bridgeport, Conn., a job as a budget analyst for a marketing firm in Norwalk, Conn., two children and a well-educated wife who posted his smiling picture and lovingly called him "my everything" on a social networking website.

But shortly after becoming a U.S. citizen a year ago, he gave up his job, stopped paying his mortgage and told a real estate agent to let the bank take the house because he was returning to Pakistan.

Once there, according to investigators, he traveled to the lawless Waziristan region and learned bomb making at a terrorist training camp.

In court papers, investigators said Shahzad returned to the U.S. on Feb. 3, moved into an apartment in a low-rent section of Bridgeport, then set about acquiring materials and an SUV he bought with cash in late April. They said that after his arrest, Shahzad confessed to rigging the bomb and driving it into Times Square. He also acknowledged getting training in Pakistan, the filing said.

Kifyat Ali, a cousin of Shahzad's father, spoke with reporters outside a two-story home the family owns in an upscale part of Peshawar, Pakistan. He said the family had yet to be officially informed of Shahzad's arrest, which he called ``a conspiracy so the (Americans) can bomb more Pashtuns,'' a reference to a major ethnic group in Peshawar and the nearby tribal areas of Pakistan and southwest Afghanistan.

The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for the Times Square car bomb plot, but U.S. officials said they are still investigating. Federal authorities are looking into possible financing of Shahzad's activities by the group, according to one of the law enforcement officials who spoke to the AP.

In Pakistan, authorities detained several people, although the FBI said it had no confirmation that those arrests were relevant to the case.

Shahzad came to the U.S. in late 1998 on a student visa. Not long after earning his MBA, he took a job at the Affinion Group, which does brand-loyalty marketing, and stayed there until leaving voluntarily in May 2009, a company spokesman said.

His path to citizenship was eased by his marriage to an American, Huma Mian.

Census Bureau contracts with shady groups to count illegals

From the NY Post:

The White House has made clear that its intention is to put extra effort in counting illegal immigrants. It wants to make sure that all 12 million illegals are counted, a task that's not easy given the desire of most illegals to avoid detection.

So the Census Bureau is teaming up with community organizations that can reach out to this population. The bureau had contracted with ACORN to be part of the Census count, until that group came under heavy criticism after two conservative activists videotaped its workers giving tax advice to what they thought were a pimp and a prostitute. Instead, it will use other groups, including Hispanic and immigrant-advocacy organizations and the Service Employees International Union.

Yet there's enormous potential for a Census count that includes illegal immigrants to skew the political process. It will mean some congressional districts will include huge numbers of persons who aren't eligible to vote -- and whose elected leaders therefore aren't really democratically accountable.

It so happens that many of these districts will elect Democrats, since illegals often settle in poorer neighborhoods, whose legal residents and citizens tend to vote Democratic. So congressional Democrats and the White House are more than happy to see voting power shift to these new rotten boroughs.

But the real issue is what this will mean to individual voters in districts that are made up mostly of citizens. Their votes will, in effect, be diluted by the votes of citizens who live in districts where large numbers of illegal immigrants live.

This change has the potential to alter the meaning of representative democracy. If the administration succeeds in counting 12 million illegals in the Census, its effect will be to disenfranchise an equal number of US citizens.

Need welfare? Food stamps? Welcome to America!

From the Daily News:

Q. If I receive food stamps and Medicaid, will that keep me from becoming a U.S. citizen? I am a permanent resident of the United States.

Anthony, Manhattan

A. You can naturalize even if you are receiving public assistance. And you can probably get the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to waive your naturalization application filing fee.

A citizenship applicant does not need to prove income or financial support as a condition for naturalization. Receiving public assistance sometimes becomes an issue if the applicant gets assistance by lying and the truth comes out at the naturalization interview. But in that situation, the USCIS examiner denies the application because of the lie, not because of the assistance.

As a recipient of public assistance, you should be eligible for a waiver of the $675 naturalization filing fee.

It used to be that immigrants had to find sponsors that would swear to be responsible for them if they should become a burden on society. But then that got in the way of registering new Democrats to vote...

Newest citizens extremely grateful

From the Daily News:

Frank Gashi, 36, a tax specialist from Kosovo, lives in the Bronx.

Gashi will feel a surge of pride as he celebrates his first July 4 as an American.

“It’s going to be an emotional experience because everybody in my close family is now a U.S. citizen,”says the father of two, who is of Albanian ­descent.

He fled the former Yugoslavia in 1992 during the bitter Balkans conflict. If he hadn’t escaped, he would have been forced to fight in the Serbian military.

“This nation has allowed me and many other Albanians to gain our liberty,” explains Gashi.

“Unlike the place we left behind, you can be successful if you work hard, no matter what your race, class or religion.

“Everything is possible here.”

Gashi, who became a citizen with help from City University’s Citizenship and Immigration Project, spent eight years in France before joining his mother, Ajmone, 63, brother, Fatmir, 32, and sister, Filloreta, 30, in New York City. They arrived from Kosovo as refugees in 2000 amid worsening violence and persecution.

All four have now taken the oath of allegiance. In 2005, Fatmir joined the U.S. Army and served in Iraq.

“It was his way of thanking the American people for helping restore peace in Kosovo,” says Gashi, who met his event coordinator wife, Kym Kodra-Gashi, 29, here in 2004.
The couple’s children, Jon, 4, and 1-year-old Ema, will learn about the family’s struggle when they are older.

“We will tell them how proud we are to be part of this wonderful country,” explains Gashi. “It has been a long journey.”

Statue of Liberty's crown to reopen

From NY1:

Starting July 4th, visitors to the Statue of Liberty will once again be allowed to visit her crown.

But to do so, they need to have won a ticket through a newly-created lottery.

It is the first time the statue's crown will be open since the September 11th attacks.

The lottery came about after officials expressed safety concerns about the narrow staircase used to climb to the top.

Groups have been limited to 30 people who are being allowed an hour-long visit.

7 military veterans will also take their citizenship oaths there tomorrow.

Kids proud to be Americans

From the Times Ledger:

Some 27 children from throughout Queens were sworn in during a ceremony at the Queens Center Mall in Elmhurst last Thursday - just in time for Flag Day on June 13. And the country’s newest citizens showed their pride by proudly waving a bevy of Old Glories while a chorus from nearby PS 206 sang Lee Greenwood’s “Proud to Be an American.”

The children earned their citizenship through their parents, all of whom recently underwent the naturalization process.

Among them was Michal Ukowski, 9, of Glendale, whose parents, Halina and Marisuz, came to Queens from Poland six years ago.

Once he had accepted his certificate of citizenship, Mikal said he felt different. When pressed to explain how, he said, “I’m a citizen.”

Other children also appreciated the momentousness of the day.

“It’s a big achievement,” said Tyrese Johnson, 8, of Richmond Hill, whose family came from Trinidad and Tobago when he was only a few months old.

“I’m a citizen and I’m not an immigrant,” said Flushing resident Nicolas Stewart, 11, who immigrated to the United States from Jamaica with his family at age 3 and wants to join the Army to become an engineer.