State parliament blames soaring immigration fraud on US government

After pledging to crack down on scammers posing as immigration agents, the Utah government went on to blame the problem on Washington and the US immigration authorities.

According to immigration officers, visa and green card fraud is the new cottage industry, and the government must be held to be complicit in its development. Fraudsters prey on would-be immigrants’ fears and frustrations, whilst the morass of the process itself confuses with its inconsistency and lack of clarity.

Law enforcement can arrest and prosecute the scammers, but it’s a battle against the symptoms whilst the cause is almost ignored. Federal inactivity fuelled by the stalling in Congress of immigration reform gives fertile ground for fraudsters.

The recent arrest of one scammer who’d charged 20 desperate immigrants thousands of dollars each and done nothing at all for them is indicative of the growth of the issue. Complex, arcane immigration rules, delays and yet more delays and the fear of being refused drives people to those whose only goal is to cheat them.

Experts in the field believe the only way to defeat the criminals is by hastening immigration reform and producing a meaningful, more transparent package for those who wish to legalise their status. As the reform bill is still struggling, authorities must step up and shield those already in the broken system from unscrupulous scavengers.