Federal officials say thousands of refugee files are being reexamined after investigators uncovered alleged fraud tied to a long-running resettlement program.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
President Donald Trump’s United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has launched what officials described as a landmark fraud investigation into refugee resettlement in Minnesota, focusing primarily on refugees from Somalia, according to an announcement released Friday.
The investigation, known as Operation PARRIS, will re-review approximately 5,600 refugee cases in Minnesota, most involving Somali nationals. USCIS officials said the probe includes new background checks and a reassessment of the original refugee claims used to secure entry into the United States, as detailed in an official agency release.
Federal authorities said early findings have already identified alleged instances of refugee fraud, with those cases being referred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for possible enforcement action.
“Minnesota is ground zero for the war on fraud,” a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said. “This operation in Minnesota demonstrates that the Trump administration will not stand idly by as the U.S. immigration system is weaponized by those seeking to defraud the American people. American citizens and the rule of law come first, always.”
Government officials have long alleged that Somali refugee resettlement over the past decade was marred by widespread abuse of the P-3 refugee program, which allows individuals to seek refuge in the United States through claimed family relationships. Authorities say the program was vulnerable to false identities and fabricated family ties, enabling large-scale fraud before the pathway was suspended.
Concerns about the program were outlined years earlier by retired ICE official Charles Thaddeus Fillinger, who in 2018 published a 30-page analysis describing what he characterized as an unprecedented breakdown in refugee vetting.
“Thousands of fraudulent P-3 refugees (most using false identities) streamed into the United States for years before the suspension,” Fillinger wrote. “When 25 percent of the U.S. workforce was unemployed in the 1930s, it was called the ‘Great Depression.’ With near 100 percent fraud levels in the failed P-3 program, it is accurate to call it the greatest refugee fraud crisis in modern times.”
USCIS officials said Operation PARRIS represents one of the most extensive post-admission refugee fraud reviews ever undertaken by the agency and signals a broader effort by the Trump administration to reassert enforcement priorities across the immigration system. Federal authorities have not yet disclosed how many cases could ultimately face revocation or removal proceedings, but said the investigation remains ongoing.
Original article
Comments