Immigration Fraud Criminal Defense

Federal immigration law determines whether a person is an alien, and also provides means by which certain aliens can become naturalized citizens with full rights of citizenship. Immigration law determines who may enter, how long they may stay and when they must leave.

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 continues to be the basic immigration law of the country. The most significant ammendment to the INA was in 1965 which abolished the natural origin provisions, and established a new quota system. For INA purposes, an "alien" is any person who is not a citizen or a national of the United States. There are different categories of aliens: resident and nonresident, immigrant and nonimmigrant, documented and undocumented ("illegal" ).

Types of Immigration Fraud:

There are two types of immigration fraud: document fraud and benefit application fraud. While both are widespread, immigration investigators often consider benefit fraud far more dangerous. While document fraud is prevalent, victims often must remain below the radar in fear that they will be discovered. On the other hand, if an immigrant acquires legitimate documents and benefits through fraudulent means, that immigrant might never be detected.

Immigration Document Fraud:

This crime refers to the manufacture, sale or use of counterfeit identity documents such as fake driver’s licenses, birth certificates, social security cards, or passports, for immigration fraud or other criminal activity. Document fraud also includes efforts to obtain genuine identity documents through fraudulent means.

Immigration Benefit Fraud:

Benefit fraud refers to the misrepresentation or omission of material facts on an application to obtain an immigration benefit one is not entitled to—such as U.S. citizenship, political asylum or a valid visa.
One of the most common types of benefit fraud is marriage fraud. Foreigners and illegal immigrants often use short-term or fraudulent marriages to gain U.S. green cards and citizenship.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

ICE enforces the nation’s immigration and customs laws and protects federal facilities.
Operational Divisions include:

Office of Investigations is responsible for investigating a wide range of domestic and international activities arising from the movement of people and goods that violate immigration and custom laws and threaten national security.
Office of Detention and Removal Operations is responsible for public safety and national security by ensuring the departure from the United States of all removable aliens and by enforcing the nation’s immigration laws.
Federal Protective Service is responsible for policing, securing, and ensuring a safe environment in which federal agencies can conduct their business by reducing threats posed against more than 8,800 federal government facilities nationwide.
Office of Intelligence is responsible for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of strategic and tactical intelligence data for use by the operational elements of ICE and DHS.