abhijitp
07-08 04:10 PM
Recently at a temple I saw volunteers requesting people to register with the bone marrow registry. Lots of people were coming forward to register.
More details:
http://bonemarrow.org/
I think, this should inspire us to run a similar campaign for the Legal Skilled Immigrants cause.
More details:
http://bonemarrow.org/
I think, this should inspire us to run a similar campaign for the Legal Skilled Immigrants cause.
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shreekhand
08-30 12:11 AM
In legal parlance it is referred to as "period of stay as authorized by the Attorney General".
Parolee sounds to fit somewhere right there from among the options, though in my opinion a person has to re-enter the US as a parolee.
Par: Parolee
Parolee sounds to fit somewhere right there from among the options, though in my opinion a person has to re-enter the US as a parolee.
Par: Parolee
v2neha
04-08 10:28 AM
PD Aug 03
RD July 07
ND Aug 07
EB3 - India
RD July 07
ND Aug 07
EB3 - India
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breddy2000
12-16 12:22 PM
A freind of mine had two years EAD and don't have H1 anymore. His drivers License was denied as EAD is not considered a valid document for drivers License extention.
This happened in Wayne , NJ.
I too will be going for the renewal soon. Did anyone else faced similar situtation. If yes, how did they resolve?
It quiet common that each office follows different rules.
No harm in trying at different offices. As someone suggested take the printout of the valid identification cards and you should be all set.
This happened in Wayne , NJ.
I too will be going for the renewal soon. Did anyone else faced similar situtation. If yes, how did they resolve?
It quiet common that each office follows different rules.
No harm in trying at different offices. As someone suggested take the printout of the valid identification cards and you should be all set.
more...
va_12_2004
07-20 07:59 AM
And ask many Indians,Chinese etc about their namecheck experience :-)
But this won't be easy "Do you want us to compromise on national security", will be the first question asked . They will acknowledge the applicants pain and won't budge . "We know thousands like you are getting screwed for many years, but national security is foremost'.
I really hope they rely on electronic documents and don't push paper from one office to another.
I do not believe that keeping a really bad guy under ead for years is helping the national security any way. It is totally ridiculus when they talk about national security for anything. I believe that, they randomly pick some cases to create intentional delay, and tell their bosses, and who in turn tells American people that they are doing a job.
Screaming baby always get more milk, and if we scream it would be legitimate, and we have to scream being united. PLease keep this thread going and create awareness among newbies(to uscis). This is inevitable that most of us will get into this mess.
There will be 2 more backlog centers:
1) USCIS
2) FBI
Unfortunately most of us will rot in both, unless we take action. It might sound funny now, but it is inevitable.
But this won't be easy "Do you want us to compromise on national security", will be the first question asked . They will acknowledge the applicants pain and won't budge . "We know thousands like you are getting screwed for many years, but national security is foremost'.
I really hope they rely on electronic documents and don't push paper from one office to another.
I do not believe that keeping a really bad guy under ead for years is helping the national security any way. It is totally ridiculus when they talk about national security for anything. I believe that, they randomly pick some cases to create intentional delay, and tell their bosses, and who in turn tells American people that they are doing a job.
Screaming baby always get more milk, and if we scream it would be legitimate, and we have to scream being united. PLease keep this thread going and create awareness among newbies(to uscis). This is inevitable that most of us will get into this mess.
There will be 2 more backlog centers:
1) USCIS
2) FBI
Unfortunately most of us will rot in both, unless we take action. It might sound funny now, but it is inevitable.
ganguteli
07-07 11:58 AM
Large scare denials will help people wake up. A lot of these H1B folks with I140 approved and EAD are living in a state of denials. Only when they get RFE or denial they come to IV.
Unless these people support, people who are in the labor pending stage will not get enough members to help them out.
Unless these people support, people who are in the labor pending stage will not get enough members to help them out.
more...
Legal
07-16 08:39 AM
I am not sure how important the processing dates update, If you look in , there are many approvals whose processing dates are well beyond Jul 17 (for TSC). This makes me question what is the processing date updates mean?
It means ALL the cases filed before 7/17/07 have been processed, doesn't mean they are not working on cases beyond july 17th.
It means ALL the cases filed before 7/17/07 have been processed, doesn't mean they are not working on cases beyond july 17th.
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rogerdepena
07-17 11:45 PM
haven't you heard 'keep your friends close..keep your enemies closer'...blocking the channel might not help...
there is an online petition happening here..
after we have seen what can be achieved, I don't think so it will be really tough to make it clear..
I already signed the petition but it is also important that we stop watching them. Don't visit CNN.com since it's advertising is based --in a way-- on the number of hits. Don't buy time magazine since it is affiliated with CNN. During casual conversation, if the topic is about news, make it a point to tell your friend that you are doubting the integrity of CNN since some of it's shows are anti-immigrant --both legal and illegal. If you are lucky(or unlucky) to be included in a survey about "NEWS NETWORKS", leave a comment and be specific that you don't like CNN because it supports "Lou Dobbs." This small things might not mean a lot but it's a step to the right direction.
there is an online petition happening here..
after we have seen what can be achieved, I don't think so it will be really tough to make it clear..
I already signed the petition but it is also important that we stop watching them. Don't visit CNN.com since it's advertising is based --in a way-- on the number of hits. Don't buy time magazine since it is affiliated with CNN. During casual conversation, if the topic is about news, make it a point to tell your friend that you are doubting the integrity of CNN since some of it's shows are anti-immigrant --both legal and illegal. If you are lucky(or unlucky) to be included in a survey about "NEWS NETWORKS", leave a comment and be specific that you don't like CNN because it supports "Lou Dobbs." This small things might not mean a lot but it's a step to the right direction.
more...
franklin
06-15 12:33 AM
Next week is the time to talk more about AC 21 . This week lets complete all the work to file the petition
Long Stroy in short form with the rules underlying AC 21 act
If 140 is approved and 485 petition was pending for adjustment for more than 180 days ( from Receipt Date ) you can move to a similar job under a different employer using EAD
Yes, lets hope the removal of AC21 in CIR has been reversed !
Regardless EAD and AP are not affected by Priority Date. (Neither is I485 processing - I believe that as long as the PD is current, it is treated on an Receipt date of I485 - another benefit of filing I485 asap)
Long Stroy in short form with the rules underlying AC 21 act
If 140 is approved and 485 petition was pending for adjustment for more than 180 days ( from Receipt Date ) you can move to a similar job under a different employer using EAD
Yes, lets hope the removal of AC21 in CIR has been reversed !
Regardless EAD and AP are not affected by Priority Date. (Neither is I485 processing - I believe that as long as the PD is current, it is treated on an Receipt date of I485 - another benefit of filing I485 asap)
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hianupam
04-16 03:55 PM
get involved in your Texas state chapter when you finally make your move.
Flowermound is great, but Plano rocks! ;)
I will contact you as soon as we get settled. (that is if we decide to move)
Thanks.
Flowermound is great, but Plano rocks! ;)
I will contact you as soon as we get settled. (that is if we decide to move)
Thanks.
more...
cox
October 16th, 2005, 06:13 PM
I shot this on the Golden Gate this morning. I liked the general effect of the cars, but you'll notice the whole thing is soft. There was a lot of haze, which was a problem, but even worse, the whole bridge was shaking. I was surprised the pic came out this clear... I need a better locale, I think...
http://www.dphoto.us/forumphotos/data/931/medium/ggate_long_exposure_sm_C_101605_JP8X5623.jpg (http://javascript<b></b>:;)
http://www.dphoto.us/forumphotos/data/931/medium/ggate_long_exposure_sm_C_101605_JP8X5623.jpg (http://javascript<b></b>:;)
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ronhira
10-11 10:55 AM
It not the right time to start campaign. All policians will be busy in elections an they may not hear waht we say. After elections may be the right time to do.
i agree with yabayaba.... there is no use of any campaign..... the only campaign law makers care @ is election campaign...... hold off till the end of elections.....
i agree with yabayaba.... there is no use of any campaign..... the only campaign law makers care @ is election campaign...... hold off till the end of elections.....
more...
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nogc_noproblem
11-14 09:55 PM
I am not sure it can be argued as discrimination. All countries equally have the 7% cap. UK, Norway, Germany, Sweden, China, India, South Africa.....Just so happens that lot more applicants from India, China, Mexico, philipines.
People from those countries listed by you (except China & India) can get GC much faster than people from India and China even though both of them have same / similar / identical skill-set, just because of this per country limit. is it not discrimination?
People from those countries listed by you (except China & India) can get GC much faster than people from India and China even though both of them have same / similar / identical skill-set, just because of this per country limit. is it not discrimination?
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perm2gc
07-08 09:57 PM
I was wondering if we have approached "Consulate General of India" and Ministry for Immigrant Indians (Aapravasi Bhartiya Mantralaya) and check if they can help us in this visa fiasco. Indian statesman and good enough in visiting America to get foreign investment at the state or central level, but where do they stand when the same disapora need their help to find injustice they face on the foreign land. Any thoughts?
May be we can get their help to gather support from pro India congressmen and senators
India govt will not involve in USA internal matters.Idea was floated long back by few members and core team responded to it.
May be we can get their help to gather support from pro India congressmen and senators
India govt will not involve in USA internal matters.Idea was floated long back by few members and core team responded to it.
more...
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ak_2006
11-05 08:25 AM
My collegues & me voted for him...but we need more support for sure.
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techskill
08-10 05:44 PM
There is an Indian guy who applied on June 1st and got approved.
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showpost.php?p=143709&postcount=2169
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showpost.php?p=144063&postcount=2195
But the OP's approval doesn't make sense
But that was Oct 2002 PD, so he was eligible to file
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showpost.php?p=143709&postcount=2169
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showpost.php?p=144063&postcount=2195
But the OP's approval doesn't make sense
But that was Oct 2002 PD, so he was eligible to file
more...
makeup of a female bodybuilder.
HereIComeGC
11-14 12:08 PM
sundeep
as far similar job is concern you can check this below site
http://online.onetcenter.org/link/summary/15-1031.00
Summary Report for:
15-1031.00 - Computer Software Engineers, Applications
Develop, create, and modify general computer applications software or specialized utility programs. Analyze user needs and develop software solutions. Design software or customize software for client use with the aim of optimizing operational efficiency. May analyze and design databases within an application area, working individually or coordinating database development as part of a team.
Sample of reported job titles: Software Engineer, Application Integration Engineer, Programmer Analyst, Computer Consultant, Software Architect, Software Developer, Software Development Engineer, Business Systems Analyst, Programmer, Software Analyst
That was a fantastic link!!! Thanks!!
as far similar job is concern you can check this below site
http://online.onetcenter.org/link/summary/15-1031.00
Summary Report for:
15-1031.00 - Computer Software Engineers, Applications
Develop, create, and modify general computer applications software or specialized utility programs. Analyze user needs and develop software solutions. Design software or customize software for client use with the aim of optimizing operational efficiency. May analyze and design databases within an application area, working individually or coordinating database development as part of a team.
Sample of reported job titles: Software Engineer, Application Integration Engineer, Programmer Analyst, Computer Consultant, Software Architect, Software Developer, Software Development Engineer, Business Systems Analyst, Programmer, Software Analyst
That was a fantastic link!!! Thanks!!
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conchshell
04-24 10:01 AM
I think this is the opportunity that we should not miss ... lets start a letter or flower campaign to reach the member of the sub-committee. I am sure IV must be participating in this hearing.
On a slightly different note: Its not important that who reported it first. We are not playing a TRP rating game between immigration-law and IV. As long as our goals are same, and we all fight for a common cause, its just irrelevent who reported the news first.
On a slightly different note: Its not important that who reported it first. We are not playing a TRP rating game between immigration-law and IV. As long as our goals are same, and we all fight for a common cause, its just irrelevent who reported the news first.
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immigrationvoice1
01-29 11:13 AM
Class of Admission: H1B
Date of intended Departure: Any future date (3 months from now or anything..)
Expected length of stay: One month
Our attorney told us that we need to provide definite answers to the travel questions, however, we can use the document to travel multiple times. We got our APs on time.
Hope that helps.
Dear All,
I need urgent information that how to file Advance Parole application. My I485 application is pending with USCIS and now i need to travel to my country as my uncle is very sick. I am planning to fill out the application by myself and not by the lawyer as he is ripping me off. Can any one help me how to fill out the application although it seems very easy but i dont want to make any kind of mistakes.
In part 1, field (3) of the application it asks me for "Class of Admission" i am not sure wat to write in it. NEED HELP IN THIS FIELD.
In part 3, field (1) and field (2) can i write "Various" as I want my document to be valid for multiple visits OR do i need to put any date.
I also need some guidance that what kind of letter I should make where it asks that "On a separate sheet(s) of paper, please explain how you qualify for an advance parole document and what circumstances warrant issuance of advance parole. * Include copies of any documents you wish considered."
Please, please help me in this regards.
I would really appreciate if any one can help me out in this matter.
Date of intended Departure: Any future date (3 months from now or anything..)
Expected length of stay: One month
Our attorney told us that we need to provide definite answers to the travel questions, however, we can use the document to travel multiple times. We got our APs on time.
Hope that helps.
Dear All,
I need urgent information that how to file Advance Parole application. My I485 application is pending with USCIS and now i need to travel to my country as my uncle is very sick. I am planning to fill out the application by myself and not by the lawyer as he is ripping me off. Can any one help me how to fill out the application although it seems very easy but i dont want to make any kind of mistakes.
In part 1, field (3) of the application it asks me for "Class of Admission" i am not sure wat to write in it. NEED HELP IN THIS FIELD.
In part 3, field (1) and field (2) can i write "Various" as I want my document to be valid for multiple visits OR do i need to put any date.
I also need some guidance that what kind of letter I should make where it asks that "On a separate sheet(s) of paper, please explain how you qualify for an advance parole document and what circumstances warrant issuance of advance parole. * Include copies of any documents you wish considered."
Please, please help me in this regards.
I would really appreciate if any one can help me out in this matter.
vikasw
07-17 07:10 PM
Thank you IV for your hardwork and dedication on this.
$ 50 from me.
Payee Amount Deliver By Confirmation
Number Action
Immigration Voice
Vikas wadhwani(vikasw) $ 50.00 07/24/07 6QZ0Q-0Z4V0 Edit
Pay From: MYACCESS CHECKING-6830
$ 50 from me.
Payee Amount Deliver By Confirmation
Number Action
Immigration Voice
Vikas wadhwani(vikasw) $ 50.00 07/24/07 6QZ0Q-0Z4V0 Edit
Pay From: MYACCESS CHECKING-6830
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.
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