Green Energy
Fox:
ICE Busts California Flight School in Massive Visa Fraud Scheme
Published May 25, 2010
The former owners of a California flight school have pleaded guilty in a massive visa fraud scheme in which they hired illegal immigrants as flight instructors — a scam that immigration officials say posed a "significant" threat to national security.
Andrew Burr and Christopher Watson, the former president and vice president of Anglo-American Aviation, pleaded guilty Thursday to misdemeanor counts of hiring unauthorized workers, part of a larger felony case against their company that was the culmination of a two-year investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
ICE officials found that from 2001-2008, the company hired 11 illegal immigrants as flight instructors.
"The actions by the defendants in this case not only undermined the integrity of our nation's legal immigration system, they also posed a significant national security risk," said Joe Garcia, acting special agent in charge for the ICE Office of Investigations in San Diego.
ICE investigators focused on a four-month period in the summer of 2007, when the school issued visa documents to more than 100 foreign students, even though the Federal Aviation Administration had revoked their certification to train commercial pilots.
The company was abusing an online database developed in the wake of 9/11 to track foreign students, according to ICE officials. Without that FAA certification, the company was forbidden to issue I-20 immigration documents to its students, who used the forms to get visas from the State Department.
ICE investigators successfully tracked down 53 of the students — more than half of those trained in the summer of 2007, according to ICE statements — and said none were found to pose a security risk. They provided no information on those they failed to locate.
At the hearing Thursday, Burr and Watson were sentenced to five years' probation, and along with the flight school must forfeit $250,000 in illegal profits.
Anglo-American Aviation Inc. also pleaded guilty to felony charges for making false statements and creating false visa documents, and will be sentenced on June 21.
The company now operates under a different name — American Aviation Academy — but uses the same mailing address and phone number in San Diego, where two of the 9/11 hijackers received flight training
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Green Energy
Fox:
ICE Busts California Flight School in Massive Visa Fraud Scheme
Published May 25, 2010
The former owners of a California flight school have pleaded guilty in a massive visa fraud scheme in which they hired illegal immigrants as flight instructors — a scam that immigration officials say posed a "significant" threat to national security.
Andrew Burr and Christopher Watson, the former president and vice president of Anglo-American Aviation, pleaded guilty Thursday to misdemeanor counts of hiring unauthorized workers, part of a larger felony case against their company that was the culmination of a two-year investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
ICE officials found that from 2001-2008, the company hired 11 illegal immigrants as flight instructors.
"The actions by the defendants in this case not only undermined the integrity of our nation's legal immigration system, they also posed a significant national security risk," said Joe Garcia, acting special agent in charge for the ICE Office of Investigations in San Diego.
ICE investigators focused on a four-month period in the summer of 2007, when the school issued visa documents to more than 100 foreign students, even though the Federal Aviation Administration had revoked their certification to train commercial pilots.
The company was abusing an online database developed in the wake of 9/11 to track foreign students, according to ICE officials. Without that FAA certification, the company was forbidden to issue I-20 immigration documents to its students, who used the forms to get visas from the State Department.
ICE investigators successfully tracked down 53 of the students — more than half of those trained in the summer of 2007, according to ICE statements — and said none were found to pose a security risk. They provided no information on those they failed to locate.
At the hearing Thursday, Burr and Watson were sentenced to five years' probation, and along with the flight school must forfeit $250,000 in illegal profits.
Anglo-American Aviation Inc. also pleaded guilty to felony charges for making false statements and creating false visa documents, and will be sentenced on June 21.
The company now operates under a different name — American Aviation Academy — but uses the same mailing address and phone number in San Diego, where two of the 9/11 hijackers received flight training
- End Run
Uncle Barry and Nappy say "Fuck Congress" Washington Times: New DHS rules cancel deportations The Homeland Security Department said Thursday it will halt deportation proceedings on a case-by-case basis against illegal immigrants who meet certain...
-
27 Terrorists deemed to Hold Aviation Licenses From Will at The Other News: (NYTimes).WASHINGTON — The Transportation Security Administration cannot determine the real identities of thousands of the people to whom the Federal Aviation Administration...
- Chicago: O'hare Airport Security Breach - Over 100 Security Badges, 23 Arrested
This security breach must have registered on the Richter scale. From the National Terrorism Alert Center: November 8, 2007 Federal and local law enforcement agents raided several warehouses Wednesday at O'Hare International Airport and arrested...
- So Your Name Is Mohammed And You Want A Hazmat Driver's License?
From The Blotter:A 28-year-old Muslim from India has been taken into custody in Rhode Island after a truck driving school became suspicious of his efforts to obtain a license to drive trucks with hazardous material. Upon appearing in court today in Boston...
- Storm Track Infiltration: The Religious Worker Visa Scam
From The Gathering Storm Here we go again. Letting the camel’s nose into the tent. I mean, Islam is preaching peace – right? Dozens of Pakistani immigrants who came to the United States posing as religious workers were arrested Wednesday, authorities...