CARIBBEAN NATIONALS seeking immigrant status in the US have been warned about con artists by the New York City sub-Committee on Immigration. It is a warning they would do well to heed, since as the committee has stated, they risk not only losing their money but could incur legal prosecution.
We are well aware that the obsession to get to America has led many in Jamaica and around the Caribbean into pursuing many devious routes to circumvent American regulations and processes. Thus they become willing accomplices to their own exploitation.
And it is not limited to those on the other side in areas like New York. There have been several reports of much the same things happening right here in Kingston, driven by the same almost insane fixation with 'getting to America'. Claims of inside connections are made here as well.
But while the New York City Committee is obviously issuing the warning with good intent we are not sure that it will lead to the disappearance of the sharp practices. It seems obvious to us that part of the reason the illegal operators continue to exist, if not to flourish, is that they have had varying degrees of success.
We think that the New York City Committee needs to pursue investigations into this possibility. After all there have been many cases where complicity in such fraudulent connections have been exposed and prosecuted.
So while we appreciate the warning issued we suggest that the problem might be deeper than the Immigration Service appears to contemplate.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner.
