More than two dozen people, including six lawyers, were indicted yesterday for alleged immigration fraud — in some cases telling asylum seekers to falsely claim they suffered forced abortions in their homelands, authorities said.
FBI agents and the NYPD raided businesses in Chinatown and Queens to arrest the attorneys, as well 15 law-firm workers, four translators and a church employee who taught basic Christianity to the immigrants.
The suspects allegedly used three main ruses for people to claim persecution in order to get refugee status — claims of forced abortion under China’s family-planning policy, retaliation for Christian beliefs or retribution for joining China’s Democratic Party and Falun Gong.
NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said his department is working with federal investigators to vet applications for asylum.
“Those who allegedly exploit the government’s asylum process for profit potentially put the country at risk by enabling the immigration of people with false identities and unknown histories,” he said.
Preet Bharara, Manhattan US Attorney, said the workers would step in when clients “went off script” and lied to immigration judges in court.
Twenty-one of the defendants were in custody yesterday. Three more planned to turn themselves in today. Three defendants are still at large.