The Fraud Detection and National Security Unit has focused its attention on New York City, one of the areas with high concentration of immigrant communities in the United States. The Unit’s goal is to detect all kinds of fraudulent activity, not with guns or raids, but by using intuition. Immigration fraud takes different forms. Marriage for money and in exchange for a green card is a classic example, as well, phony lawyers who charge money for their services.

The Fraud Detection Unit located in the federal building at 26 Federal Plaza in the lower Manhattan is the first of 70 units in major cities around the country. The fact that it is located in New York City is not coincidental.

There are areas in Brooklyn where an immigration officer’s badge causes people to panic and that is exactly where Tamika Gray likes to go. She knows where to find fraudulent sponsors, fake lawyers or “churches” that, in reality, don’t exist. She’s known Brooklyn for years, and so, when in Brooklyn, she just follows her intuition. Gray, 31, is an immigrant from Jamaica who came to the United States at the age of six.

It is best to do it in person

Gray likes to check “sponsors” in person, and so she walks to the location where a large international corporation is supposed to be situated. The corporation is allegedly sponsoring a financial administrator to manage millions of dollars. Instead of a corporation, Gray finds a small Laundromat whose owner doesn’t even know that the Laundromat’s address is used by someone else.

Churches under scrutiny

Religious sponsorships are under a great deal of scrutiny. U.S. churches have the privilege of bringing their priests and other employees, such as religious teachers from abroad. This privilege is so much abused that fraudulent activity has become a norm – one-third of all church petitions are either not warranted or simply fake, which is way above average in comparison with other sponsoring groups. For this reason visits to churches that sponsor foreign employees have become routine.

Recently, a visit to what was supposed to be a synagogue location led to a condominium construction site.

The Fraud Detective Unit started operating in October and within a few months handed over more than 200 criminal cases to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The sponsorships were voided and fraudulent sponsors now face deportation.

Corporation in a private home

Gray recently visited a dilapidated restaurant in Hempstead, which was supposedly sponsoring an accountant for a full-time position. The international corporation in Queens turned out to be a private apartment.

One of the biggest cases handled by the Unit involved Clementine McDermott, an immigrant form Colombia who deceived the naive and the desperate. McDermott set up an office in Long Island where she would see her clients. She would take their money and that was the extent of the services rendered. McDermott, who conned a few dozen people, was sentenced to three years in prison, followed by deportation to Colombia.

They’re doing something

In the opinion of Unit Supervisor Joseph Knipper, visiting sponsors is of great importance. There is a notion in New York that Immigration and Customs Enforcement was created to be deceived – it’s enough to fill out some forms and a hot-dog stand vendor can sponsor 50 people.

The immigration authorities, however, are very much active and do check out sponsors. Information gathered on such visits is checked out and shared by immigration authorities, says Knipper.