Category Archives: Department of Homeland Security

Phony Immigration Lawyer Filed more than 215 Fake Asylum Applications

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TAMPA, Fla. – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is looking for additional victims of a Tampa area man charged Monday with a 25-count indictment including eight counts of mail fraud, eight counts of making false statements in immigration documents, and nine counts of aggravated identity theft. This case was investigated by HSI, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), and Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

Elvis Reyes 55 FL

According to the indictment, Elvis Harold Reyes, 56, of Brandon, owned and operated EHR Ministries Inc., and portrayed himself as an immigration attorney, pastor, accountant, immigration expert, former immigration official and former federal law enforcement officer. Reyes is not and has never been a licensed attorney. Reyes targeted undocumented immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries who were seeking Florida driver licenses and work authorization. He gave false, inaccurate and incomplete legal and immigration advice to victims in order to induce them to retain his services and those of EHR Ministries.

Any person who was, or knows of someone who may have been, a possible victim is urged to contact the Homeland Security Investigations at 1-866-DHS-2ICE or http://www.ice.gov/webform/hsi-tip-form.

Victims retained and paid Reyes to represent them in immigration-related matters before USCIS and other agencies. Reyes allegedly filed fraudulent immigration applications in the victims’ names, seeking asylum relief and withholding-of-removal protections provided for under the United Nations Convention Against Torture. In doing so, Reyes falsified answers to questions in the asylum applications—fabricating stories about threats, persecution, and the applicants’ fear of returning to their native countries. Reyes did not inform the victims of the answers that he had provided on their behalf. He also did not inform the victims about the legal, administrative, and other immigration-related consequences that might follow from filing for asylum relief or for Convention Against Torture protection.

If convicted, Reyes faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for each count of mail fraud, up to 15 years’ imprisonment for each false statement count, and a mandatory, consecutive term of two years’ imprisonment for the aggravated identity theft counts.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Murray, with United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez Middle District Florida office.

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Part of the website has the following: Help us help the homeless and the orphans no matter in what country they find themselves. USA, South America, Africa, India, and others.
Make a donation today, Help! This ministry meet the challenges faced with every day on a global scale. Partner with us in giving Food, Clothes, Water, Shelter, helping the sick and rehabilitating the imprison. Help us built orphanages, help us bring water, education, to those who seek Him. Help our missionaries accomplish their missions in Ecuador, Honduras, Guatemala, Peru, and other Countries. Do it for Him “Jesus” Amen.
Click on the orange bar below and give as the Lord touches your heart. “Thank you!” Amen! “Keep this in mind.” $175 Feeds a family for a year. $90 provides 375 lbs of rice and beans, $43 Feeds a child for one year. 

We serve the immigrants
  • Preparing INS documents and immigration applications.
  • Referring them to license attorneys.
  • Helping them with housing, education, and job training.
We serve the unemployed.

  • Job placement.
  • Job training and education.
  • Helping them write resumes.
  • Preparing them for job interviews.

Something about this website easily leads one to believe the photos are not part of the organization but rather taken from internet sources.

From BayNews9 in 2019:

PLANT CITY, Fla. — A Plant City couple say they were defrauded of thousands of dollars by a man who claimed to be an immigration attorney.

  • Lorenzo Aguilar, Josephina Ramos-Ramirez work as laborers
  • Couple says they hired Elvis Reyes, 54, to help them with path to citizenship
  • Reyes has spent time in prison for aggravated assault, grand theft, forgery
  • More Hillsborough County stories

“When we started the process, he wanted half of the money up front, like $2,500 dollars,” said Aguilar through a translator. “And then after the fingerprints came back — that’s when he would ask for the rest of the money.”

But after Reyes received the money, Aguilar didn’t hear back.

“He stopped answering the phone,” he said. “We would continue to call him and he just would never answer the phone anymore.”

Aguilar and his common-law wife Josephina Ramos-Ramirez, who work as laborers, paid Reyes $5,000.  It’s money they say they can’t afford to lose.

The couple also has an infant son with a rare brain disorder who requires specialized treatment he can’t get back in their native Mexico.

“I can’t go back to our country because of the treatment that he needs,” said Ramirez. “And because of that is why we’re having so much difficulty right now because I fear being deported.”

We reached out to Reyes and his church through phone calls and email.  His mailbox is full and emails weren’t returned.

According to online records, Reyes spent time in prison for aggravated assault, grand theft and forgery.

The couple has since hired Ananis Makar, an immigration attorney, based in Plant City.

“We’ve had quite a few people coming in telling us that somebody who is claiming to be an attorney have filed documents on their behalf,” said Makar.

Makar now represents three other clients who claim they were cheated by Reyes.  She tells us Reyes also filed paperwork with the federal government on their behalf.

“It just makes (their case) a little more difficult,” said Makar. “To gain any kind of immigration status is already a challenge.”

Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office has opened an investigation into Reyes amid reports there could be 40 individuals allegedly defrauded by Reyes.

“People preying on our residents is unacceptable,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement. “Our job as a local law enforcement agency is to protect all people, regardless of their immigration status, from criminals looking to take advantage of them. We are looking into this case and working to bring those responsible to justice.”

Democrats Refuse Legal Protection for Medical Mask Makers

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*** What Senator Cotton referred to is 3M company being granted the government contract to manufacture the N9 masks and 3M wants protection from litigious lawyers for all kinds of reasons and the House Democrats refused siding with nasty lawyers. There is building bi-partisan movement to protect the manufacturers….meanwhile…about that $8.3 billion….

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul wants to funnel the $8.3 billion that will be spent to combat the coronavirus out of the money spent on foreign aid.

After passing through both chambers of Congress, President Trump signed legislation that makes $8.3 billion in emergency funding available to combat the coronavirus outbreak. Paul, who was the only senator to vote against the spending package, views the funding as necessary to address the spreading illness, but he did not want to take out the taxpayers’ checkbook without saving money elsewhere.

“I support the money,” Paul told WDRB. “I just think we should take it from somewhere else in the budget where it’s not being used wisely. So I had an amendment that would have said the $8 billion should come from foreign welfare that we send to foreign countries in the form of foreign aid. I think really we ought to concentrate on our country.”

He added, “I think really we ought to concentrate on our country, instead of borrowing more money from China. The virus came from there. Now we’re borrowing from China to spend on it. Why don’t we take it from the money we’re actually sending overseas and spend that money here?”

As Paul noted, the coronavirus outbreak has been traced back to Wuhan, China. Since the outbreak began late last year, more than 116,000 people have been infected worldwide, and more than 4,000 have died. In the United States, 27 people have died, and more than 750 have been infected.

Paul voted against the emergency funding last week, citing how the package did not include spending cuts to counter the money spent on fighting the coronavirus. He argued that even more money could have been allocated to stop the disease, but that he could not support a funding package that did not have an adjacent spending cut.

“I think we could allocate more money, but we should pay for it,” Paul said. “If you don’t follow through and you say, well, we should pay for it, but I’ll vote for it anyway, then that just gives them license to do it again and again and again. And that’s what happens.”

The U.S. spent nearly $40 billion on foreign aid in 2019, which was less than 1% of the federal budget. In 2017, China received more than $53 million in foreign aid from the U.S. The countries receiving the most foreign aid from the U.S. are Afghanistan, Iraq, and Israel.

Horse Racing Doping Schemers Charged

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Disgusting but it is common in the industry.

 

Federal prosecutors announced charges on Monday against more than two dozen racehorse trainers, veterinarians and drug distributors in a wide-ranging series of indictments that laid out a corrupt scheme to secretly dope horses and cheat the betting public in what has become a $100 billion global industry.

Maximum Security's Unique Derby Path Serves Him Well ... source

Among the 27 people charged was Jason Servis, the trainer of Maximum Security, one of the best racehorses in the world. He covertly administered performance-enhancing drugs “to virtually all the racehorses under his control,” the indictment charged, adding that from February 2018 to February 2020 he entered horses in more than 1,000 races.

Maximum Security moved from Jason Servis after indictments ... Maximum Security

In May, Maximum Security crossed the finish line first at the Kentucky Derby, only to be disqualified for almost knocking over a rival horse and slowing the momentum of others. Country House, a 65-1 shot, was named the winner. Last month, Maximum Security won $10 million at the Saudi Cup at the King Abdulaziz racecourse in Riyadh, the world’s richest race

The scheme, as laid out in four separate indictments against a total of 27 people, was to manufacture and distribute adulterated and misbranded drugs and to secretly administer them to racehorses under their control.

The participants sought to improve race performance and obtain prize money from tracks throughout the United States, including in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Ohio and Kentucky, as well as the United Arab Emirates, one indictment said, “all to the detriment and risk of the health and well-being of the racehorses.”

To avoid detection of their scheme, the indictment said, the defendants routinely defrauded and misled federal and state regulators “and the betting public.”

The charges were to be announced at a news conference on Monday by Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States attorney in Manhattan, and William F. Sweeney Jr., head of the F.B.I.’s New York office.

Horse racing has a long history of trainers’ repurposing drugs in pursuit of a performance edge. Frog and cobra venom, Viagra, cocaine, heart medicines and steroids have all been detected in drug tests. This reliance on performance-enhancing drugs combined with lax state regulations has made American racetracks among the deadliest in the world.

Nearly 10 horses a week on average died at U.S. racetracks in 2018, according to the Jockey Club’s Equine Injury Database. That figure is anywhere from two and a half to five times greater than the fatality rate in Europe and Asia, where rules against performance-enhancing drugs are enforced more stringently.

Last year, at Santa Anita Park, a few miles east of Pasadena, more than 30 horses were euthanized after fatal breakdowns, including 23 of them in a three-month span that nearly shut down racing in Southern California and led to an investigation by the Los Angeles district attorney.

The post More Than Two Dozen Charged in Horse Racing Doping Scheme appeared first on New York Times.

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Gary West, the owner of Maximum Security, released a statement on Tuesday saying he had terminated Servis’s employment. “Yesterday, Jason Servis, a trainer we have used for 5 years, was indicted on multiple charges regarding using an illegal substance in horses. This news is extremely disturbing and disappointing. Therefore we will be moving all our horses from Jason Servis as soon as arrangements can be made with other trainers. Maximum Security will be sent to Bob Baffert.”

According to the charges, Servis administered a drug called SGF-1000 to Maximum Security and other horses and then conspired with a vet to cover up the doping. Authorities say such acts of doping can cause horses to over-exert themselves, potentially leading to their deaths.

The welfare of racehorses has been under the microscope in the US over the last year after a spike in deaths. More than 30 horses died last year at Santa Anita, one of the most famous tracks in America. According to the Jockey Club’s Equine Injury Database, death rates at American tracks are up to five times

Taiwan More Advanced than U.S. to Deal with Coronavirus

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Taiwan, while in a contentious government power struggle with China, the country has a very conservative approach on economic stability and encourages entrepreneurial strengths.

(Reuters) – China is pressuring Taiwan with “provocative” air force maneuvers near the island and spreading fake news to sow discord during the coronavirus outbreak, security sources and government officials in Taiwan say.

This sets the table for why Taiwan’s master plan to thrive during the coronavirus outbreak.

Angry Taiwan blames China for UN aviation meet snub | The ...

You can be assured corporate leaders in the United States are taking notice and are hosting some top level meetings regarding research and development across the country during this anxious time in America and across the world.

Taiwan records its first coronavirus death as global toll ...

Read on for some interesting actions Taiwan has taken given how interacted the country is with China.

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Taiwan is 81 miles off the coast of mainland China and was expected to have the second highest number of cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to its proximity to and number of flights between China.1 The country has 23 million citizens of which 850 000 reside in and 404 000 work in China.2,3 In 2019, 2.71 million visitors from the mainland traveled to Taiwan.4 As such, Taiwan has been on constant alert and ready to act on epidemics arising from China ever since the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003. Given the continual spread of COVID-19 around the world, understanding the action items that were implemented quickly in Taiwan and assessing the effectiveness of these actions in preventing a large-scale epidemic may be instructive for other countries.

COVID-19 occurred just before the Lunar New Year during which time millions of Chinese and Taiwanese were expected to travel for the holidays. Taiwan quickly mobilized and instituted specific approaches for case identification, containment, and resource allocation to protect the public health. Taiwan leveraged its national health insurance database and integrated it with its immigration and customs database to begin the creation of big data for analytics; it generated real-time alerts during a clinical visit based on travel history and clinical symptoms to aid case identification. It also used new technology, including QR code scanning and online reporting of travel history and health symptoms to classify travelers’ infectious risks based on flight origin and travel history in the past 14 days. Persons with low risk (no travel to level 3 alert areas) were sent a health declaration border pass via SMS (short message service) messaging to their phones for faster immigration clearance; those with higher risk (recent travel to level 3 alert areas) were quarantined at home and tracked through their mobile phone to ensure that they remained at home during the incubation period.

Moreover, Taiwan enhanced COVID-19 case finding by proactively seeking out patients with severe respiratory symptoms (based on information from the National Health Insurance [NHI] database) who had tested negative for influenza and retested them for COVID-19; 1 was found of 113 cases. The toll-free number 1922 served as a hotline for citizens to report suspicious symptoms or cases in themselves or others; as the disease progressed, this hotline has reached full capacity, so each major city was asked to create its own hotline as an alternative. It is not known how often this hotline has been used. The government addressed the issue of disease stigma and compassion for those affected by providing food, frequent health checks, and encouragement for those under quarantine. This rapid response included hundreds of action items (eTable in the Supplement).

Recognizing the Crisis

In 2004, the year after the SARS outbreak, the Taiwan government established the National Health Command Center (NHCC). The NHCC is part of a disaster management center that focuses on large-outbreak response and acts as the operational command point for direct communications among central, regional, and local authorities. The NHCC unified a central command system that includes the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), the Biological Pathogen Disaster Command Center, the Counter-Bioterrorism Command Center, and the Central Medical Emergency Operations Center.5

On December 31, 2019, when the World Health Organization was notified of pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan, China, Taiwanese officials began to board planes and assess passengers on direct flights from Wuhan for fever and pneumonia symptoms before passengers could deplane. As early as January 5, 2020, notification was expanded to include any individual who had traveled to Wuhan in the past 14 days and had a fever or symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection at the point of entry; suspected cases were screened for 26 viruses including SARS and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). Passengers displaying symptoms of fever and coughing were quarantined at home and assessed whether medical attention at a hospital was necessary. On January 20, while sporadic cases were reported from China, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC) officially activated the CECC for severe special infectious pneumonia under NHCC, with the minister of health and welfare as the designated commander. The CECC coordinated efforts by various ministries, including the ministries of transportation, economics, labor, and education and the Environmental Protection Administration, among others, in a comprehensive effort to counteract the emerging public health crisis.

Managing the Crisis

For the past 5 weeks (January 20-February 24), the CECC has rapidly produced and implemented a list of at least 124 action items (eTable in the Supplement) including border control from the air and sea, case identification (using new data and technology), quarantine of suspicious cases, proactive case finding, resource allocation (assessing and managing capacity), reassurance and education of the public while fighting misinformation, negotiation with other countries and regions, formulation of policies toward schools and childcare, and relief to businesses.

Border Control, Case Identification, and Containment

On January 27, the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) and the National Immigration Agency integrated patients’ past 14-day travel history with their NHI identification card data from the NHIA; this was accomplished in 1 day. Taiwan citizens’ household registration system and the foreigners’ entry card allowed the government to track individuals at high risk because of recent travel history in affected areas. Those identified as high risk (under home quarantine) were monitored electronically through their mobile phones. On January 30, the NHIA database was expanded to cover the past 14-day travel history for patients from China, Hong Kong, and Macau. On February 14, the Entry Quarantine System was launched, so travelers can complete the health declaration form by scanning a QR code that leads to an online form, either prior to departure from or upon arrival at a Taiwan airport. A mobile health declaration pass was then sent via SMS to phones using a local telecom operator, which allowed for faster immigration clearance for those with minimal risk. This system was created within a 72-hour period. On February 18, the government announced that all hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies in Taiwan would have access to patients’ travel histories.

Resource Allocation: Logistics and Operations

The CECC took an active role in resource allocation, including setting the price of masks and using government funds and military personnel to increase mask production. On January 20, the Taiwan CDC announced that the government had under its control a stockpile of 44 million surgical masks, 1.9 million N95 masks, and 1100 negative-pressure isolation rooms.

Communications and Politics
Reassure and Educate the Public, While Fighting Misinformation

In addition to daily press briefings by the minister of health and welfare the CECC, the vice president of Taiwan, a prominent epidemiologist, gave regular public service announcements broadcast from the office of the president and made available via the internet. These announcements included when and where to wear a mask, the importance of handwashing, and the danger of hoarding masks to prevent them from becoming unavailable to frontline health workers. The CECC also made plans to assist schools, businesses, and furloughed workers (eTable in the Supplement).

Taiwan’s Outcomes so Far (as of February 24)
Interim Outcomes

The CECC has communicated to the public in a clear and compassionate manner. Based on a poll of 1079 randomly selected people conducted by the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation on February 17 and 18, the minister of health and welfare received approval ratings of more than 80% for his handling of the crisis, and the president and the premier received an overall approval rating of close to 70%. As of February 24, Taiwan has 30 cases of COVID-19. These cases represent the 10th-highest case number among countries affected thus far, but far fewer than the initial models predicting that Taiwan would have the second-highest importation risk.

Challenges

First, real-time public communications were mostly in Mandarin Chinese and sign language. Other than the Taiwan CDC website, there was not enough communication in different languages to non-Taiwanese citizens traveling or residing in Taiwan. Second, while its attention was focused on air travel, Taiwan permitted the docking of the Diamond Princess cruise ship and allowed passengers to disembark in Keelung, near New Taipei City, on January 31, before the ship left for Japan. The ship was subsequently found to have numerous confirmed infections onboard. This created a temporary public panic with concern about community spread. The government published the 50 locations where the cruise ship travelers may have visited and asked citizens who may have been in contact with the tour group to conduct symptom monitoring and self-quarantine if necessary. None were confirmed to have COVID-19 after 14 days had passed. Third, whether the intensive nature of these policies can be maintained until the end of the epidemic and continue to be well received by the public is unclear.

Conclusions

Taiwan’s government learned from its 2003 SARS experience and established a public health response mechanism for enabling rapid actions for the next crisis. Well-trained and experienced teams of officials were quick to recognize the crisis and activated emergency management structures to address the emerging outbreak.

In a crisis, governments often make difficult decisions under uncertainty and time constraints. These decisions must be both culturally appropriate and sensitive to the population. Through early recognition of the crisis, daily briefings to the public, and simple health messaging, the government was able to reassure the public by delivering timely, accurate, and transparent information regarding the evolving epidemic. Taiwan is an example of how a society can respond quickly to a crisis and protect the interests of its citizens.

Article Information

Corresponding Author: C. Jason Wang, MD, PhD, Stanford University, 117 Encina Commons, CHP/PCOR, Stanford, CA 94305 ([email protected]).

Published Online: March 3, 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.3151

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported.

References and footnotes found here in detail.

Armed Guard of Concentration Camp from Tennessee Ordered Deported

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WASHINGTON – A U.S. Immigration Judge in Memphis, Tennessee has issued a removal order against a German citizen and Tennessee resident, based on his service in Nazi Germany in 1945 as an armed guard of concentration camp prisoners in the Neuengamme Concentration Camp system (Neuengamme).

After a two-day trial, U.S. Immigration Judge Rebecca L. Holt issued her opinion finding Friedrich Karl Berger removable under the Immigration and Nationality Act because his “willing service as an armed guard of prisoners at a concentration camp where persecution took place” constituted assistance in Nazi-sponsored persecution. The court found that Berger served at a Neuengamme sub-camp near Meppen, Germany, and that the prisoners there included “Jews, Poles, Russians, Danes, Dutch, Latvians, French, Italians, and political opponents” of the Nazis.

Judge Holt found that Meppen prisoners were held during the winter of 1945 in “atrocious” conditions and were exploited for outdoor forced labor, working “to the point of exhaustion and death.” The court further found, and Berger admitted, that he guarded prisoners to prevent them from escaping during their dawn-to-dusk workday, and on their way to and from the worksites. At the end of March 1945, with the advance of British and Canadian forces, the Nazis abandoned Meppen. The court found that Berger helped guard the prisoners during their forcible evacuation to the Neuengamme main camp – a nearly two-week trip under inhumane conditions which claimed the lives of some 70 prisoners.

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Built in December 1938 by one hundred inmates transferred from Sachsenhausen concentration camp, Neuengamme concentration camp was established around an empty brickworks in Hamburg-Neuengamme. The bricks produced there were to be used for the “Fuehrer buildings”, part of the National Socialists’ redevelopment plans for the river Elbe in Hamburg.

1943

Until June 4th, 1940, Neuengamme was a sub-camp of Sachsenhausen. At this date Neuengamme became an independent concentration camp, under the direct control of the overseer of concentration camps. The prisoners worked on the construction of the camp and the brickworks, regulating the flow of the Dove-Elbe river and the building of a branch canal, as well as on the mining of clay. The number of inmates increased dramatically in only a few months: in 1940, the population of the camp was 2,000 prisoners (with a proportion of 80% German inmates among them), Between 1940 and 1945, more than 95,000 prisoners were incarcerated in Neuengamme. On April 10th, 1945, the number of prisoners in the camp itself was 13,500. More than 2,000 men and 10,300 women were working in the different sub-camps depending on Neuengamme SS administration.

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“Berger was part of the SS machinery of oppression that kept concentration camp prisoners in atrocious conditions of confinement,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division. “This ruling shows the Department’s continued commitment to obtaining a measure of justice, however late, for the victims of wartime Nazi persecution.”

The investigation was initiated by DOJ’s Human Rights and Special Prosecution Section (HRSP) and was conducted in partnership with ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center and HSI’s Nashville Special Agent in Charge office.

“The investigation of human rights violations and those who engage in these heinous acts, continues to be a focus for Homeland Security Investigations and this successful outcome is an example of those efforts” stated Jerry C. Templet Jr, Special Agent in Charge, HSI Nashville.

The removal case was jointly tried by attorneys in ICE New Orleans Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (Memphis), and attorneys from DOJ’s HRSP, with the assistance of the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center.

Established in 2009, ICE’s Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center furthers ICE’s efforts to identify, locate and prosecute human rights abusers in the United States, including those who are known or suspected to have participated in persecution, war crimes, genocide, torture, extrajudicial killings, female genital mutilation and the use or recruitment of child soldiers. The HRVWCC leverages the expertise of a select group of agents, lawyers, intelligence and research specialists, historians and analysts who direct the agency’s broader enforcement efforts against these offenders.

Since 2003, ICE has arrested more than 450 individuals for human rights-related violations of the law under various criminal and/or immigration statutes. During that same period, ICE obtained deportation orders against and physically removed 1034 known or suspected human rights violators from the United States. Additionally, ICE has facilitated the departure of an additional 160 such individuals from the United States.

Currently, HSI has more than 180 active investigations into suspected human rights violators and is pursuing more than 1,640 leads and removal cases involving suspected human rights violators from 95 different countries. Since 2003, The HRVWCC has issued more than 76,000 lookouts for individuals from more than 110 countries and stopped over 315 human rights violators and war crimes suspects from entering the U.S.