peer123
04-17 10:05 AM
How did you find what job code your labor was applied for?
it is on the approved labor certificate, that my lawyer gave me
it is on the approved labor certificate, that my lawyer gave me
wallpaper Mens Nike Air Jordan 25/AF1
chanduv23
12-09 12:16 PM
Guys,
Right now there are 154 guests accessing this site...please become a member, join state chapter and please please contribute to IV..
Guests please take a positive step and become a member. And once you become a member - please contribute. This goes a long way towards helping our cause.
Right now there are 154 guests accessing this site...please become a member, join state chapter and please please contribute to IV..
Guests please take a positive step and become a member. And once you become a member - please contribute. This goes a long way towards helping our cause.
yabadaba
06-24 12:42 PM
bump^^^^
2011 Nike Air Jordan shoes,
chakalov
10-10 12:41 PM
Application received by NSC on July 19. Called USCIS yesterday 10/09/07 - still nothing in the system. I'll call again in a week.
more...
niceguy
02-22 06:22 PM
For me they accepted interfiling and it introduced another problem. I had 140/485 filed with sub LC and before they looked at this concurrent file, another I140 with my original LC approved. Both are in EB2. We asked uscis to use my second approved I140 in place of pending I140 (lc sub). After 6 months, they looked at my concurrent file, sent rfe and denied my first I140 as they didn't agree my BITS-pilani MS is equal to US masters.
Then they looked at our request on interfiling that was sent 6 months before, then sent an intent to revoke on my approved I140 too with the same reason. Our attorney replied this time equating my AMIETE to US bachelors since they any way denied with Masters. We are still waiting after 2 months+.
The moral is, they accept the interfiling, but it takes time for them to put it in your file - some one said 2-3 months. You don't receive any ack on successful interfiling though.
Hope this helps.
Then they looked at our request on interfiling that was sent 6 months before, then sent an intent to revoke on my approved I140 too with the same reason. Our attorney replied this time equating my AMIETE to US bachelors since they any way denied with Masters. We are still waiting after 2 months+.
The moral is, they accept the interfiling, but it takes time for them to put it in your file - some one said 2-3 months. You don't receive any ack on successful interfiling though.
Hope this helps.
highertruth
07-30 04:01 PM
YouTube - AAH - AAJA RE AB MERA DIL PUKARA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW2J7zLZwLU)
This is fun. Lets vote the best entry.
This is fun. Lets vote the best entry.
more...
gapala
03-27 06:52 PM
Immigration is not a popular topic at these times...
Guys watch this video.. Where is the promised transparency? imagine what could happen if this goes through...
US Government is going to access your PC.. up next? Are they going to scan through underwear?
Why is that so called independent and powerful US media mum on this issue?
http://video.google.com/?hl=en&tab=nv
Guys watch this video.. Where is the promised transparency? imagine what could happen if this goes through...
US Government is going to access your PC.. up next? Are they going to scan through underwear?
Why is that so called independent and powerful US media mum on this issue?
http://video.google.com/?hl=en&tab=nv
2010 Nike Air Jordan Kids shoes
doctor
01-26 08:37 AM
Hi Friends, I searched through some of the prior posts and did not find the answer. I am not looking for cities to live in from the point of view of job, taxes, weather, desi population, desi amenties such as movies, restaurants etc. I am looking for answers from our indian friends living in various parts of usa, about where they felt was the best place for their children to live and go to school in terms of less racism and equal opportunities at school and playgrounds. I am also not looking at the whole state but cities themselves.
Many of us can't choose our job and where we want to live. but children are more vulnerable than us and in an environment you may not be able to control. A pooled information from my friends will be useful to me and I am sure my other friends. Also information about cities which you didn't like from your children's point of view and may reconsider living in if you had a chance.
I will say it first- some of the smaller cities in PA are not the best for your children.
Thanks in advance.
Many of us can't choose our job and where we want to live. but children are more vulnerable than us and in an environment you may not be able to control. A pooled information from my friends will be useful to me and I am sure my other friends. Also information about cities which you didn't like from your children's point of view and may reconsider living in if you had a chance.
I will say it first- some of the smaller cities in PA are not the best for your children.
Thanks in advance.
more...
GCanyMinute
08-23 12:25 PM
for sure this info is gonna be useful for someone.
i hope i don't have to use it myself though :D
thanks for the help.
i hope i don't have to use it myself though :D
thanks for the help.
hair shoes,Nike Air Jordan
sam2006
07-18 06:59 PM
Yes you will still fall under July ..
The dead line is 17 Aug ...
please do sign up for monthy contributions :)
The dead line is 17 Aug ...
please do sign up for monthy contributions :)
more...
gdhiren
05-14 10:18 AM
Receipt Date: Feb 7, 2007
EB 2, Non-premium
Pending as of 05/14/2007
EB 2, Non-premium
Pending as of 05/14/2007
hot Nike Air Jordan
rkumar18
11-21 11:23 AM
Cubans are politically active and highly vocal in advocacy of their cause. Are you?
No they are NOT if you are talking about immigration!They are highly passionate and vocal in support for their own country and its leader (well are we???). Only reason they are enjoying immigration benfits is due to the US policy towards Cuba and its regime.
Well I do agree with you that we should avoid highlighting such issues and channelize our time and efforts towards the betterment of our own cause.
No they are NOT if you are talking about immigration!They are highly passionate and vocal in support for their own country and its leader (well are we???). Only reason they are enjoying immigration benfits is due to the US policy towards Cuba and its regime.
Well I do agree with you that we should avoid highlighting such issues and channelize our time and efforts towards the betterment of our own cause.
more...
house Nike Air Jordan VI Kids shoes
Milind123
07-27 12:31 PM
Instead of starting a new thread. I would appreciate if someone answers a few questions regarding Check details that we send out to USCIS.
Went to lawyers office last week and signed all the applications. I made out onc check in the amount of $745 ($395 I-485 + $170 I-131 (AP) + $180 I-765 (EAD)) Payble to U.S Citizenship and Immigration Service. Now when I see the forms online it says the checks should be payable to Department of Homeland Security. Should I ask the lawyer to hold on to the application and send new checks.
Also , should I write three separate checks for $395 $170 $180. Just to make sure if there is an error in say Advanced payroll application, USCIS will keep the two check and send me back the Advanced Parol application.
Went to lawyers office last week and signed all the applications. I made out onc check in the amount of $745 ($395 I-485 + $170 I-131 (AP) + $180 I-765 (EAD)) Payble to U.S Citizenship and Immigration Service. Now when I see the forms online it says the checks should be payable to Department of Homeland Security. Should I ask the lawyer to hold on to the application and send new checks.
Also , should I write three separate checks for $395 $170 $180. Just to make sure if there is an error in say Advanced payroll application, USCIS will keep the two check and send me back the Advanced Parol application.
tattoo Nike Air Jordan VI Shoes
digitalborealis
01-10 02:14 AM
Hello All
Similar experience at Mumbai Consulate. Being a full time employee, and after showing all paystubs, employment letter , VO was not satisfied. 1/2 of the time , he was under impression that I was still working for a company, whose visa was stamped in 2008. :)
Another reason of frustration is they did not check all the documents I sent , which were mentioned in the green slip. Inspite of sending Research Document, I had got the reply saying that I did not send the Past, Current and Future Research Statement. So I resubmitted all the documents again on Dec 23rd,2010 . also added I am not working on any research topic presently or in near future . After that I did not hear back from consulate. So that means my case has been under processing?
Did anyone get the receipt of documents submission in response to Green Slip?
Please let me know
Thanks and Good LUCK
D
Similar experience at Mumbai Consulate. Being a full time employee, and after showing all paystubs, employment letter , VO was not satisfied. 1/2 of the time , he was under impression that I was still working for a company, whose visa was stamped in 2008. :)
Another reason of frustration is they did not check all the documents I sent , which were mentioned in the green slip. Inspite of sending Research Document, I had got the reply saying that I did not send the Past, Current and Future Research Statement. So I resubmitted all the documents again on Dec 23rd,2010 . also added I am not working on any research topic presently or in near future . After that I did not hear back from consulate. So that means my case has been under processing?
Did anyone get the receipt of documents submission in response to Green Slip?
Please let me know
Thanks and Good LUCK
D
more...
pictures Air Jordan#39;s
belmontboy
04-30 12:13 PM
We are a small group, and most of our provisions are reasonable, and hopefully we can get our provisions passed. I wish the same for the undocumented too. If it happens in one bill all the better!
Right.
But Mr Gutierrez thinks otherwise. Hispanic Democrats know very well that if Legals get any reprieve, then the fate of undocumented provisions is for sure dead. That's why all legal provisions have been held hostage.
Unfortunately, legal immigration doesnot have any representation in the senate to work for our interests.
Suprisingly, majority of the Americans favor legal immigration over undocumented, and any legal provisions will have public support. A few senators are playing dirty politics and holding thousands of legalites ransom. If CIR fails, I would hope/pray these Hispanic Democrats don't get elected in mid-term so that we can move forward
Right.
But Mr Gutierrez thinks otherwise. Hispanic Democrats know very well that if Legals get any reprieve, then the fate of undocumented provisions is for sure dead. That's why all legal provisions have been held hostage.
Unfortunately, legal immigration doesnot have any representation in the senate to work for our interests.
Suprisingly, majority of the Americans favor legal immigration over undocumented, and any legal provisions will have public support. A few senators are playing dirty politics and holding thousands of legalites ransom. If CIR fails, I would hope/pray these Hispanic Democrats don't get elected in mid-term so that we can move forward
dresses air jordans shoes
morchu
04-23 12:32 PM
Do not assume things. I had waited for my LC approval more than probably the time you spend in college. So dont even go there. Anyway I chose to remain anonymous, and I will remove all details from my profile.
Dude,
You say you got your Labor from Atlanta in 01/04/2004 approved. Perm was not even there in 2004.
Dude,
You say you got your Labor from Atlanta in 01/04/2004 approved. Perm was not even there in 2004.
more...
makeup Jordan Shoes,Nike Air
adibhatla
06-16 11:52 AM
I have seen a letter from USCIS after a congressional enquiry that the "485 is pre-adjudicated and waiting for a visa number"
Hi Chandu,
Could you tell me what needs to be written to the congressman (looking at the content).
Appreciate your help in this regard.
MA
Hi Chandu,
Could you tell me what needs to be written to the congressman (looking at the content).
Appreciate your help in this regard.
MA
girlfriend Nike Air Jordan Boy shoes
doubleyou
05-20 11:31 AM
Pappu, Thanks for the link it is informative and looks like IV had raised the namecheck issue. Let us see if there are other members on IV still experiencing FBI check delay.
Maybe then a retouch of the issue will be helpful.
Maybe then a retouch of the issue will be helpful.
hairstyles Air Jordan 1 Flight high White
akhilmahajan
04-23 06:48 PM
First of all congrats for your I140......
Secondly, i8 was looking at the dates and the texas web site mentioned they are processing September 13, 2006 cases.......
But as per your information, it seems wrong..........
I guyess its just random case dates which are processed........ I will have my fingers crossed amd hopefully will get my gift soon.........
Thanks
Secondly, i8 was looking at the dates and the texas web site mentioned they are processing September 13, 2006 cases.......
But as per your information, it seems wrong..........
I guyess its just random case dates which are processed........ I will have my fingers crossed amd hopefully will get my gift soon.........
Thanks
deepakjain
01-21 03:25 PM
I was one of the candidates who had this issue, I was given a 221g in 2009 Dec at mumbai consulate.
I was not asked for any documents, and the officer told me that my case has been putup for security check and I can expect a reply back from Washington DC within 2-8 weeks.
I received a reply on my case after 3 weeks and then I took the copy of the reply and submitted my passport at the mumbai consulate for visa stamping, 3 days after
submitting my passport I got it back with visa stamped on it.
Please note in 2009 I was in my 7th year of H1B, I had EAD and AP during that time and I have a permanent job and have been working for the same firm for last 6 years.
Regards,
Deepak
Folks:
I was just informed by my lawyer that there is a potenital for significant delay in getting the visa stamped due to security checks. I assume it is PIMS related. My questions is:
1: Has anyone experienced such delay recently at Delhi Consulate? Please note that last visa H1B expired in Aug 2010.
2: Is there any proactive steps I can take before going to India and make sure that there are no delay due to PIMS verification
I also read somewhere that there is a way to get PIMS verification done while in US.
I will appreciate your responses.
I was not asked for any documents, and the officer told me that my case has been putup for security check and I can expect a reply back from Washington DC within 2-8 weeks.
I received a reply on my case after 3 weeks and then I took the copy of the reply and submitted my passport at the mumbai consulate for visa stamping, 3 days after
submitting my passport I got it back with visa stamped on it.
Please note in 2009 I was in my 7th year of H1B, I had EAD and AP during that time and I have a permanent job and have been working for the same firm for last 6 years.
Regards,
Deepak
Folks:
I was just informed by my lawyer that there is a potenital for significant delay in getting the visa stamped due to security checks. I assume it is PIMS related. My questions is:
1: Has anyone experienced such delay recently at Delhi Consulate? Please note that last visa H1B expired in Aug 2010.
2: Is there any proactive steps I can take before going to India and make sure that there are no delay due to PIMS verification
I also read somewhere that there is a way to get PIMS verification done while in US.
I will appreciate your responses.
GodHelpUs
03-21 10:48 AM
I am really shocked on looking at this article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/nyregion/21immigrant.html?hp
An Agent, a Green Card, and a Demand for Sex
Article Tools Sponsored By
By NINA BERNSTEIN
Published: March 21, 2008
No problems so far, the immigration agent told the American citizen and his 22-year-old Colombian wife at her green card interview in December. After he stapled one of their wedding photos to her application for legal permanent residency, he had just one more question: What was her cellphone number?
Skip to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image
Uli Seit for The New York Times
Isaac R. Baichu, 46, an adjudicator for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, was arrested after he met with a green card applicant at the Flagship Restaurant, a diner in Queens. He is charged with coercing oral sex from her.
Audio A Secret Recording
Enlarge This Image
Uli Seit for The New York Times
The Flagship Restaurant, where Mr. Baichu met with a green card applicant.
The calls from the agent started three days later. He hinted, she said, at his power to derail her life and deport her relatives, alluding to a brush she had with the law before her marriage. He summoned her to a private meeting. And at noon on Dec. 21, in a parked car on Queens Boulevard, he named his price � not realizing that she was recording everything on the cellphone in her purse.
�I want sex,� he said on the recording. �One or two times. That�s all. You get your green card. You won�t have to see me anymore.�
She reluctantly agreed to a future meeting. But when she tried to leave his car, he demanded oral sex �now,� to �know that you�re serious.� And despite her protests, she said, he got his way.
The 16-minute recording, which the woman first took to The New York Times and then to the Queens district attorney, suggests the vast power of low-level immigration law enforcers, and a growing desperation on the part of immigrants seeking legal status. The aftermath, which included the arrest of an immigration agent last week, underscores the difficulty and danger of making a complaint, even in the rare case when abuse of power may have been caught on tape.
No one knows how widespread sexual blackmail is, but the case echoes other instances of sexual coercion that have surfaced in recent years, including agents criminally charged in Atlanta, Miami and Santa Ana, Calif. And it raises broader questions about the system�s vulnerability to corruption at a time when millions of noncitizens live in a kind of legal no-man�s land, increasingly fearful of seeking the law�s protection.
The agent arrested last week, Isaac R. Baichu, 46, himself an immigrant from Guyana, handled some 8,000 green card applications during his three years as an adjudicator in the Garden City, N.Y., office of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the federal Department of Homeland Security. He pleaded not guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges of coercing the young woman to perform oral sex, and of promising to help her secure immigration papers in exchange for further sexual favors. If convicted, he will face up to seven years in prison.
His agency has suspended him with pay, and the inspector general of Homeland Security is reviewing his other cases, a spokesman said Wednesday. Prosecutors, who say they recorded a meeting between Mr. Baichu and the woman on March 11 at which he made similar demands for sex, urge any other victims to come forward.
Money, not sex, is the more common currency of corruption in immigration, but according to Congressional testimony in 2006 by Michael Maxwell, former director of the agency�s internal investigations, more than 3,000 backlogged complaints of employee misconduct had gone uninvestigated for lack of staff, including 528 involving criminal allegations.
The agency says it has tripled its investigative staff since then, and counts only 165 serious complaints pending. But it stopped posting an e-mail address and phone number for such complaints last year, said Jan Lane, chief of security and integrity, because it lacks the staff to cull the thousands of mostly irrelevant messages that resulted. Immigrants, she advised, should report wrongdoing to any law enforcement agency they trust.
The young woman in Queens, whose name is being withheld because the authorities consider her the victim of a sex crime, did not even tell her husband what had happened. Two weeks after the meeting in the car, finding no way to make a confidential complaint to the immigration agency and afraid to go to the police, she and two older female relatives took the recording to The Times.
Reasons to Worry
A slim, shy woman who looks like a teenager, she said she had spent recent months baby-sitting for relatives in Queens, crying over the deaths of her two brothers back in Cali, Colombia, and longing for the right stamp in her passport � one that would let her return to the United States if she visited her family.
She came to the United States on a tourist visa in 2004 and overstayed. When she married an American citizen a year ago, the law allowed her to apply to �adjust� her illegal status. But unless her green card application was approved, she could not visit her parents or her brothers� graves and then legally re-enter the United States. And if her application was denied, she would face deportation.
She had another reason to be fearful, and not only for herself. About 15 months ago, she said, an acquaintance hired her and two female relatives in New York to carry $12,000 in cash to the bank. The three women, all living in the country illegally, were arrested on the street by customs officers apparently acting on a tip in a money-laundering investigation. After determining that the women had no useful information, the officers released them.
But the closed investigation file had showed up in the computer when she applied for a green card, Mr. Baichu told her in December; until he obtained the file and dealt with it, her application would not be approved. If she defied him, she feared, he could summon immigration enforcement agents to take her relatives to detention.
So instead of calling the police, she turned on the video recorder in her cellphone, put the phone in her purse and walked to meet the agent. Two family members said they watched anxiously from their parked car as she disappeared behind the tinted windows of his red Lexus.
�We were worried that the guy would take off, take her away and do something to her,� the woman�s widowed sister-in-law said in Spanish.
As the recorder captured the agent�s words and a lilting Guyanese accent, he laid out his terms in an easy, almost paternal style. He would not ask too much, he said: sex �once or twice,� visits to his home in the Bronx, perhaps a link to other Colombians who needed his help with their immigration problems.
In shaky English, the woman expressed reluctance, and questioned how she could be sure he would keep his word.
�If I do it, it�s like very hard for me, because I have my husband, and I really fall in love with him,� she said.
The agent insisted that she had to trust him. �I wouldn�t ask you to do something for me if I can�t do something for you, right?� he said, and reasoned, �Nobody going to help you for nothing,� noting that she had no money.
He described himself as the single father of a 10-year-old daughter, telling her, �I need love, too,� and predicting, �You will get to like me because I�m a nice guy.�
Repeatedly, she responded �O.K.,� without conviction. At one point he thanked her for showing up, saying, �I know you feel very scared.�
Finally, she tried to leave. �Let me go because I tell my husband I come home,� she said.
His reply, the recording shows, was a blunt demand for oral sex.
�Right now? No!� she protested. �No, no, right now I can�t.�
He insisted, cajoled, even empathized. �I came from a different country, too,� he said. �I got my green card just like you.�
Then, she said, he grabbed her. During the speechless minute that follows on the recording, she said she yielded to his demand out of fear that he would use his authority against her.
How Much Corruption?
The charges against Mr. Baichu, who became a United States citizen in 1991 and earns roughly $50,000 a year, appear to be part of a larger pattern, according to government records and interviews.
Mr. Maxwell, the immigration agency�s former chief investigator, told Congress in 2006 that internal corruption was �rampant,� and that employees faced constant temptations to commit crime.
�It is only a small step from granting a discretionary waiver of an eligibility rule to asking for a favor or taking a bribe in exchange for granting that waiver,� he contended. �Once an employee learns he can get away with low-level corruption and still advance up the ranks, he or she becomes more brazen.�
�Despite our best efforts there are always people ready to use their position for personal gain or personal pleasure,� said Chris Bentley, a spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Services. �Our responsibility is to ferret them out.�
When the Queens woman came to The Times with her recording on Jan. 3, she was afraid of retaliation from the agent, and uncertain about making a criminal complaint, though she had an appointment the next day at the Queens district attorney�s office.
Mr. Baichu was arrested as he emerged from the diner and headed to his car, wearing much gold and diamond jewelry, prosecutors said. Later released on $15,000 bail, Mr. Baichu referred calls for comment to his lawyer, Sally Attia, who said he did not have authority to grant or deny green card petitions without his supervisor�s approval.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/nyregion/21immigrant.html?hp
An Agent, a Green Card, and a Demand for Sex
Article Tools Sponsored By
By NINA BERNSTEIN
Published: March 21, 2008
No problems so far, the immigration agent told the American citizen and his 22-year-old Colombian wife at her green card interview in December. After he stapled one of their wedding photos to her application for legal permanent residency, he had just one more question: What was her cellphone number?
Skip to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image
Uli Seit for The New York Times
Isaac R. Baichu, 46, an adjudicator for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, was arrested after he met with a green card applicant at the Flagship Restaurant, a diner in Queens. He is charged with coercing oral sex from her.
Audio A Secret Recording
Enlarge This Image
Uli Seit for The New York Times
The Flagship Restaurant, where Mr. Baichu met with a green card applicant.
The calls from the agent started three days later. He hinted, she said, at his power to derail her life and deport her relatives, alluding to a brush she had with the law before her marriage. He summoned her to a private meeting. And at noon on Dec. 21, in a parked car on Queens Boulevard, he named his price � not realizing that she was recording everything on the cellphone in her purse.
�I want sex,� he said on the recording. �One or two times. That�s all. You get your green card. You won�t have to see me anymore.�
She reluctantly agreed to a future meeting. But when she tried to leave his car, he demanded oral sex �now,� to �know that you�re serious.� And despite her protests, she said, he got his way.
The 16-minute recording, which the woman first took to The New York Times and then to the Queens district attorney, suggests the vast power of low-level immigration law enforcers, and a growing desperation on the part of immigrants seeking legal status. The aftermath, which included the arrest of an immigration agent last week, underscores the difficulty and danger of making a complaint, even in the rare case when abuse of power may have been caught on tape.
No one knows how widespread sexual blackmail is, but the case echoes other instances of sexual coercion that have surfaced in recent years, including agents criminally charged in Atlanta, Miami and Santa Ana, Calif. And it raises broader questions about the system�s vulnerability to corruption at a time when millions of noncitizens live in a kind of legal no-man�s land, increasingly fearful of seeking the law�s protection.
The agent arrested last week, Isaac R. Baichu, 46, himself an immigrant from Guyana, handled some 8,000 green card applications during his three years as an adjudicator in the Garden City, N.Y., office of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the federal Department of Homeland Security. He pleaded not guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges of coercing the young woman to perform oral sex, and of promising to help her secure immigration papers in exchange for further sexual favors. If convicted, he will face up to seven years in prison.
His agency has suspended him with pay, and the inspector general of Homeland Security is reviewing his other cases, a spokesman said Wednesday. Prosecutors, who say they recorded a meeting between Mr. Baichu and the woman on March 11 at which he made similar demands for sex, urge any other victims to come forward.
Money, not sex, is the more common currency of corruption in immigration, but according to Congressional testimony in 2006 by Michael Maxwell, former director of the agency�s internal investigations, more than 3,000 backlogged complaints of employee misconduct had gone uninvestigated for lack of staff, including 528 involving criminal allegations.
The agency says it has tripled its investigative staff since then, and counts only 165 serious complaints pending. But it stopped posting an e-mail address and phone number for such complaints last year, said Jan Lane, chief of security and integrity, because it lacks the staff to cull the thousands of mostly irrelevant messages that resulted. Immigrants, she advised, should report wrongdoing to any law enforcement agency they trust.
The young woman in Queens, whose name is being withheld because the authorities consider her the victim of a sex crime, did not even tell her husband what had happened. Two weeks after the meeting in the car, finding no way to make a confidential complaint to the immigration agency and afraid to go to the police, she and two older female relatives took the recording to The Times.
Reasons to Worry
A slim, shy woman who looks like a teenager, she said she had spent recent months baby-sitting for relatives in Queens, crying over the deaths of her two brothers back in Cali, Colombia, and longing for the right stamp in her passport � one that would let her return to the United States if she visited her family.
She came to the United States on a tourist visa in 2004 and overstayed. When she married an American citizen a year ago, the law allowed her to apply to �adjust� her illegal status. But unless her green card application was approved, she could not visit her parents or her brothers� graves and then legally re-enter the United States. And if her application was denied, she would face deportation.
She had another reason to be fearful, and not only for herself. About 15 months ago, she said, an acquaintance hired her and two female relatives in New York to carry $12,000 in cash to the bank. The three women, all living in the country illegally, were arrested on the street by customs officers apparently acting on a tip in a money-laundering investigation. After determining that the women had no useful information, the officers released them.
But the closed investigation file had showed up in the computer when she applied for a green card, Mr. Baichu told her in December; until he obtained the file and dealt with it, her application would not be approved. If she defied him, she feared, he could summon immigration enforcement agents to take her relatives to detention.
So instead of calling the police, she turned on the video recorder in her cellphone, put the phone in her purse and walked to meet the agent. Two family members said they watched anxiously from their parked car as she disappeared behind the tinted windows of his red Lexus.
�We were worried that the guy would take off, take her away and do something to her,� the woman�s widowed sister-in-law said in Spanish.
As the recorder captured the agent�s words and a lilting Guyanese accent, he laid out his terms in an easy, almost paternal style. He would not ask too much, he said: sex �once or twice,� visits to his home in the Bronx, perhaps a link to other Colombians who needed his help with their immigration problems.
In shaky English, the woman expressed reluctance, and questioned how she could be sure he would keep his word.
�If I do it, it�s like very hard for me, because I have my husband, and I really fall in love with him,� she said.
The agent insisted that she had to trust him. �I wouldn�t ask you to do something for me if I can�t do something for you, right?� he said, and reasoned, �Nobody going to help you for nothing,� noting that she had no money.
He described himself as the single father of a 10-year-old daughter, telling her, �I need love, too,� and predicting, �You will get to like me because I�m a nice guy.�
Repeatedly, she responded �O.K.,� without conviction. At one point he thanked her for showing up, saying, �I know you feel very scared.�
Finally, she tried to leave. �Let me go because I tell my husband I come home,� she said.
His reply, the recording shows, was a blunt demand for oral sex.
�Right now? No!� she protested. �No, no, right now I can�t.�
He insisted, cajoled, even empathized. �I came from a different country, too,� he said. �I got my green card just like you.�
Then, she said, he grabbed her. During the speechless minute that follows on the recording, she said she yielded to his demand out of fear that he would use his authority against her.
How Much Corruption?
The charges against Mr. Baichu, who became a United States citizen in 1991 and earns roughly $50,000 a year, appear to be part of a larger pattern, according to government records and interviews.
Mr. Maxwell, the immigration agency�s former chief investigator, told Congress in 2006 that internal corruption was �rampant,� and that employees faced constant temptations to commit crime.
�It is only a small step from granting a discretionary waiver of an eligibility rule to asking for a favor or taking a bribe in exchange for granting that waiver,� he contended. �Once an employee learns he can get away with low-level corruption and still advance up the ranks, he or she becomes more brazen.�
�Despite our best efforts there are always people ready to use their position for personal gain or personal pleasure,� said Chris Bentley, a spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Services. �Our responsibility is to ferret them out.�
When the Queens woman came to The Times with her recording on Jan. 3, she was afraid of retaliation from the agent, and uncertain about making a criminal complaint, though she had an appointment the next day at the Queens district attorney�s office.
Mr. Baichu was arrested as he emerged from the diner and headed to his car, wearing much gold and diamond jewelry, prosecutors said. Later released on $15,000 bail, Mr. Baichu referred calls for comment to his lawyer, Sally Attia, who said he did not have authority to grant or deny green card petitions without his supervisor�s approval.
No comments:
Post a Comment