Illegal Immigrants Being Taken Advantage of by Fake Native American Tribes!
Federal immigration authorities and immigration activists are concerned about illegal immigrants who have been duped in a scheme that can only be described as a rip-off.
Two non-federally recognized American Indian tribes are advertising to illegal immigrants and selling memberships into their tribes starting at the bargain basement price of only $50. The tribes are falsely claiming to the immigrants that they can avoid deportation and hassles with federal immigration authorities by joining and thereby achieving legal status in the United States.
Immigration authorities and advocates are outraged by the practice and say that it is illegal and fraudulent, and will in no way prevent an illegal immigrant from being detained and deported.
Immigration activists say that illegal immigrants are being taken for a ride by the tribes who are preying on their desperation and vulnerability. Activists say this type of immigration fraud is especially cruel to the immigrants because it gives them false hope of being able to legally stay in the United States.
"You can't just decide to become a member of a tribe and all of a sudden legalize your status," said Marilu Cabrera of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Numerous complaints about The Kaweah Indian Nation tribe have been filed in at least 5 states, prompting a federal investigation. Some immigrants in Nebraska have reportedly given the tribe up to $1,200 for their membership in hopes of achieving legal status.
Manuel Urbina, the high chief of The Kaweah Indian Nation tribe, admits that the group has sold approximately 10,000 memberships to illegal immigrants. However, he says that the memberships were sold for only around $50 and not $1,200. Urbina insists that the Kaweah tribe operates within the law.
According to Urbina, membership in the tribe and the membership documentation provided by the tribe can prevent illegal immigrants from being deported or detained by immigration officials when they are in a position to be asked for documentation of their status.
In Florida, one man has been operating a Web site that sells similar tribal memberships for $150 each. This man says that so far he has sold about 2,000 memberships in the Pembina Nation Little Shell tribe to illegal immigrants.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs says that Little Shell is not a legitimate tribe. They report that this group applied for federal recognition in North Dakota during the 1970s, but the tribal representatives never followed through with the application process for recognition.
The Kaweah Indian Nation was denied recognition by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1985 because it is not a legitimate Native American tribe. Authorities say that the authentic Kaweah Indian tribe did actually exist, but the group that applied for federal recognition is not the same tribe.
The Kaweah group has been called a total sham and been compared to e-mail spam solicitation by a lawyer for the Washington-based National Congress of American Indians.
Angel Freytez of the Nebraska Mexican-American Commission has said that immigration activists have fielded complaints regarding the Kaweah group by immigrants in Kansas, California, Tennessee, Texas and Oklahoma.
Tim Counts, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has stated that the paperwork given to illegal immigrants by the tribes offers them absolutely no legal protection. He put it in very simple terms when he confirmed, "It won't work."
Many illegal immigrants in the United States honestly do not know who or what to believe anymore. In desperation, some are willing to pay up and join a tribe because they think it will help them avoid deportation.
Recently, two Mexican illegal immigrants were indicted in Kansas when they allegedly attempted to use their Kaweah tribe documentation to apply for U.S. passports and legitimate Social Security cards. It is sickening to know that the Kaweah Indian Nation's fraudulent membership plan is not only robbing immigrants of money that many can't afford to lose but also causing immigrants to get into legal trouble too.
The allegations of immigration fraud are being investigated. Kansas officials, not surprisingly, say that the case against the tribe may be difficult or impossible to prosecute. Care to take a guess as to why?
Let's see, the victims in the case are illegal immigrants. How can they possibly come forward to provide information in the investigation without risking being deported? The whole reason they became victims in the first place is because... that's right, they are illegal immigrants! What person in their right mind would come forward to say, "Yes, I was taken advantage of by this scam. Oh, and by the way I am not here legally."
Sadly, the Kaweah group as well as other people and organizations who steal, take advantage of and commit crimes against illegal immigrants are very aware of the difficulty of prosecution because the victims are unable to come forward. Crimes against immigrants are largely unreported and un-prosecuted, therefore giving fraud and other offenses an open door.
